To think that AI is taking over jobs far, far, FAR quicker than we anticipated?

[Themarchoftime]

Obviously, am aware of AI's presence for some time. But I'm shocked how AI features seem to be on all platforms now, email/web etc, and how many roles are being diminished by the use. It seems week on week it's progressively spreading.

Someone who works with AI suggested to me that it's happening so much quicker than anyone expected, that we could all be looking at no jobs across many sectors in 10-12 years.

This has totally depressed me, especially as I'm early fifties, looking to skill up/change roles! And scared me, a bit, also for my kids.

Am i being a catastrophic thinker?

I haven’t personally seen AI do anything useful yet and I’ve seen several examples of it being useless.

Can anyone give an actual example of someone who has lost their job due to AI?

Elon, is that you…?

I doubt that it has replaced any single job on a simple human-out-AI-in basis. But within teams it will already be true that five people working with the benefit of AI can do the work of six without. Vacancies won't get filled. That has been happening in the legal profession for a while.

I agree. It's going to eat the junior end of the profession alive. Partners in firms will love it for the increased profits in City firms where the rates of pay are now ridiculous.

Law is a creative profession though and so there will be a role there. It's just going to be a lot smaller.

Jobs will gradually change over time like they always have.

I know a self employed copywriter who's printing money atm because she works at ten times the speed using AI. People keep telling her she'll be unemployed soon and I guess we'll see, but right now it's quite the opposite!

Also doctors; the fact is that you can have an AI database that can have much more data than even the best consultant.

AI is being used in the Civil Service. I think it will make a big difference, again, cutting junior level jobs. And it will make decisions on benefits, fines, tax etc on the operational side of government. It's already started.

Wish it was the same for me. I work really quickly and I am good at what I do!
However, small businesses who normally approach me for web copy, blog posts, newsletters etc are now using AI.
The quality to me is appalling. Bland with absolutely no personality, it’s just churned out, and so every website ‘reads’ the same.
However, if a business can use something for free they will use it.
I am in my 50’s, I have a long-term health condition and a major disability and as a result I am housebound and a lot of the time bedbound. It is the only ‘skill’ I have left.

The pace of change is scary. I attended a talk and the guy said that the amount the internet changed things since the 90s will be similar with AI but condensed into 3-6 years.

The issue with cutting all the junior/ training level jobs, is where are the people who are going to provide value by checking and editing AI responses actually going to come from with no experience or training?

What I notice in the legal profession is vacancies asking for actual skills in using AI. So there is a role; but it's not being a lawyer. Senior people will love it as they must cut costs in their roles, and they will be incentivised to get their bonus by doing so.

I could do my job with AI, and it would be much faster. That would involve me not to giving it to a junior and letting them do it to develop their skills. If people are paid by results this will become very toxic for young people.

I’m close to feeling terrified, tbh. I want to get a mortgage next year but if I lose my job, then what? I could go into a practical, caring profession but there won’t be enough vacancies because there’s going to be people like me desperate for work. The first priority for businesses is profit, so any chance they can get to make roles redundant that very expensive humans are currently doing, they take - I get it. But I have a horrible feeling that within the next ten years there won’t be enough jobs to go round. We are sleepwalking into this horror show.

We were promised self driving cars and paperless offices.
Neither of those have happened.

The world population is now at the ageing stagnation phase just before it starts to fall significantly.
Only sub Saharan Africa has a birth rate above replacement.

AI will get rid of lots of jobs that did not exist 50 years ago.
Others will take their place.
Many long standing jobs will carry on the same as they ever did.

IME we have finally achieved paperless offices, some 20 years after they were promised.

Exactly. Progress always throws people into a panic - I imagine when cars were invented, grooms and coachmen were worried. Same for posties when the telephone took off and, I don’t know, theatre staff when television became everyday probably. But nothing terrible happened, new jobs were created, some survived regardless. Society adapts.

Self driving cars are close. Very, very close. The progress in this area is astonishing.

Paperless offices are quite easily achievable if they are wanted.

When bridges were built over the Thames the boatmen kicked up a right fuss.

Bloody progress! It’s all run by unscrupulous capitalists.

I really hope your Data Protection information is up to date, I wouldn’t donate to any charity that is going to potentially let AI access to any of my data.

But are they close to being affordable? I can’t even afford a secondhand electric car and the cost of electric vehicles is cited as one of the barriers to take-up; it’s unlikely we’ll all switch to driverless cars if we’re all out of a job because of AI.

Not for me! But I'm more of a 'buy a 10 year old car for 2k and drive it until it falls apart' sort of driver! So a bit out of touch with car prices.

But it'll come. Especially as many car owners are happy to pay monthly. I

Self Driving Cars : The first to go will be trucks because they do set routes and there is a huge shortage of drivers
but its still 10 years away.

Rural roads in areas with no phone signal will keep driverless cars in cities for years yet
but cities are where therr are alternatives to travelling by car

Paperless office - yeah right. Lever arch sales are still doing great !

Yes, I think we're still a good way off full self driving in the UK.

And, apparently, paperless offces.

But that doesn't mean the tech isn't there.

Interesting point about trucks first - that seems obvious now I think about it!
And probably things like city taxis.

You're right, from my perspective in Marketing I've been able to cut my spend on graphic designers because a couple of things I've been able to AI together myself. Same with copy writing and translating things. We used to pay a translation company, but now we're finding the AI so intuitive that it's not necessary to pay £200 for translating 5 pages of text.

I could have done with hiring an assistant writer a while ago, maybe a 2 or 3 days a week role but AI has helped speed up certain things so fast that we don't need this!

YES I KNOW... I'm being part of the problem

This is an interesting idea. For roles that involve both a client facing part and then copious record keeping of everything you discuss with the client, I can see a benefit.

There are always more people than I can help in my role. Reducing the time I spend recording would mean I can reach twice as many people.

Everybody I have spoken to in tech industries says that the problem is more nuanced. AI is very good at analysing data, but generative AI (think Chat GTP) is being waaay oversold. It cannot do what the media claims it can, and is unlikely to in our lifetimes.
On the other hand, the highest value stock on the SNP500 is Nvidia, making GPUs for AI. They worry that once it is realised that AI cannot do what it claims, it will cause the next stock market crash.

Ai is not always right.