AI proof careers

[VenusClapTrap]

DC are in years 10 and 8, so A-level and university choices coming up in the next few years. Eldest quite fancies engineering or architecture. Youngest doesn’t have a clue.

The more I look into architecture, the more I worry that AI is going to impact this career path, so I’m not sure it’s a wise choice at the moment, especially as it’s such a long course.

But is engineering any better? Is anything any safer? How can we best advise our children?

Creative industries! We will still want performers and original creators. Arts subjects for the win

@Newgirls this is actually the least secure thing you can possibly do at the moment, if you want to make money.
Artists will need to be analogue, and have independent funds.

We, or some of us, may want them, but can we pay for them?

The arts were already struggling without public subsidy. That subsidy is decreasing - since 2017, arts funding from UK arts councils has been cut by 16% in real terms.

Subsidies are hardly likely to increase, with the current pressures on the public purse. And purchasers are subject to cost of living pressures, reducing real-term incomes and job losses

In January last year the Music Venues Trust (MVT) said financial stresses led 125 UK venues to abandon live music in 2023, with over half of these shutting entirely. The surviving 835 venues were all at risk - they typically secured profits of just 0.5%.

When I see it happen, I'll believe it.

It's already here.

And you will see it within the next 18 months.

Remember, "we" the public, are five years behind the actual technology. We only use what has been designed and tested for years. A "new" car, the "latest" 2025 model, is really five years old. It would have taken that long between R&D and tooling, before it ended up in the showroom. It's the same with Cyber.

I hear you about the issues in the arts but actually it’s more that it’s shifting. People want live experiences - we see it with gigs, festivals, dinner experiences like mamma Mia, interactive games, Ibiza orchestras etc. it’s about new things, appealing to younger crowds. I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s not all doom and gloom.

Old school music venues and clubs have lost appeal due to many socio economic reasons. But outdoor less frequent events have grown exponentially as has the demand for live music at private events.

People want live experiences - we see it with gigs, festivals, dinner experiences like Mamma Mia...

But, as I say, live music venues are closing, and 60 festivals were cancelled in 2024.

But compared to 10 years ago there are hundreds more festivals.

Not everything works of course. Festivals can grow too big, brexit licence issues etc it isn’t easy but the audience is there

With refuse collector, we'll probably have self driving vehicles plus (hopefully self propelling bins that wheel themselves to a spot on the pavement on the right day 😁).
Locksmiths perhaps no locks in future - just something with face recognition inbuilt into the door.

Food production and chefs. Seem to be adverts asking for chefs everywhere.

The teachers will be robots - a cyborg type of thing so I think group schooling will still be a thing as human interaction will still be needed.

I do wonder what jobs will look like in ten years time. Totally agree with the idea that the public are years behind and essentially dont know what is coming. Governments are often also behind because they dont have the expertise. Discussions regarding future proofing jobs because of AI was a big deal even in 2017/18 so years ago. People were concerned about return to medieval times when lots of people would have jobs or have jobs serving a very small elite, living standards falling - those advocating becoming a nanny, hairdresser or a builder are pretty much describing those exact jobs.

Governments seem to have gone away from trying to find a better way of taxing assets/companies within a global tax regime and/or setting up universal basic living wage. Although these issues are ever more prescient now - in fact, focus on them seems to be decreasing. Sadly, I get the feeling that governments are not very expert and increasingly hope that things will somehow get better by magic. The Tories - seemingly just hoped to extract as much cash as possible for their mates and not worrying about the rest.

When people say - carers will always be around - that might be true but will it pay enough to live on? Currently, they dont although families already feel like they cant afford the care as it is. Will more and more jobs become like that i.e. yes you can do it but it wont really afford you a house or a decent living standard. Will fewer and fewer jobs directly connected with managing AI just pay more and more. Have we essentially managed ourselves out of the societal standards that we've become accustomed to.

But there is a real issue with the type of art we consume... music, books and films can all be created by AI.
It can mimic voices from artist, reading text aloud and so on.
It will be cheaper to produce something with AI than engage real humans.

And we are will be using it through our monthly subscriptions for various streaming services.

I wonder what the robots will be teaching the kids given there will be so few jobs left.

@deusexmacintosh very interesting ideas re: future, viable careers. I'd no idea housekeepers could earn so much!

Regarding door locks -wasn't there a trial of hand chips in Sweden, where participants could pay for goods and use them to open their doors?
Thousands Of Swedes Are Inserting Microchips Under Their Skin : NPR

Perhaps things that will be more important in the future such as ecology and nature that teachers don't have time for. Teaching would be a personalised learning experience for each child on matters that interest them - any subject in the world in any language.

UBI pretty anti-communist really, because even the rich get benefits with UBI, and no one is expropriating their wealth beforehand.

The rest of your post is just too goady for me to address. I don't think there'd be any point debating with you.

I’ve been thinking about universal basic income too. I think it’s the only way to balance the impact of jobs disappearing due to AI!

It's one way I think. Another way might be to use AI as a tool for human advantage, so it does all the crappy work we don't want to do, and we work out a different way of accessing resources as a society, and spend our days on artistic and leisurely pursuits 😊

The dream 🥰

I'm guessing manual labour will finally get the value and recognition it deserves and more people will be entering these trades as computer/office work dries up.

This is a really interesting thread. I've often wondered whether AI will see a big reversal of world order where people working in currently low-status jobs e.g. as carers, will be much more highly valued.

I have mixed feelings about AI generally but am experimenting with using it in my own work (most of which is writing-based) and trying to see it as a positive because it definitely isn't going back in the box.

Now need to get back to work so it doesn't steal my job any sooner that it otherwise might!

Computer science/IT. Someone has to code the AI algorithms and train the models and fix it when it goes wrong ...

I know teachers who use AI to write their reports already.