The Impact of AI on Human Jobs

When ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, it instantly became a worldwide hit. The chatbot was praised for its capabilities and its ability to do everything from writing children’s books to grading class assignments. In a 2022 review of ChatGPT by Harvard Business Review, the author noted that “until now, AI has primarily been aimed at problems where failure is expensive…a car that occasionally gets into accidents is intolerable but an AI that draws great pictures and some bad ones is perfectly acceptable. Applying AI to creative and expressive tasks (writing marketing copy) rather than dangerous and repetitive ones (driving a forklift) opens a new world of applications.”

Even though ChatGPT got overwhelmingly positive feedback, it still reignited ongoing conversations about the perceived dangers of generative AI. Many popular generative AI models today can be used to generate art in one form or another. ChatGPT can be used to produce everything from longform essays to SEO topics, DALL-E and Midjourney create images with just a prompt, the list goes on and on. This of course means that these models can theoretically be used in place of artists, writers and other creatives. According to a Goldman Sachs report, generative AI might substitute up to one-fourth of current work in the US and Europe. 

Generative AI is not the only culprit in this matter, AI in general is being used across various industries to save on labor costs, raise labor productivity and increase the pace of economic growth. While this has been a net positive for companies (Bank of America estimates that global revenue associated with AI software will grow at 19% per year, reaching $900 billion by 2026 and that AI will contribute more than $15 trillion to the global economy by 2030), workers are a bit more apprehensive. As AI continues to gain more traction across industries, it is important to understand exactly how AI will impact human jobs in different sectors. To that end, we are looking into some industries that are most likely to be impacted by AI and investigating what that means for human jobs.

The ability of AI to streamline and automate tasks is probably most relevant in the healthcare industry. The technology is especially useful in diagnosing diseases, processing healthcare data, and developing treatments plans for patients. Back in 2011, IBM announced that their supercomputer Watson was being trained to analyze large amounts of data so as to help diagnose diseases and improve patient care. Although Watson did not quite lead up to expectations, it still created a blueprint for what was possible if AI was integrated into healthcare.

The first thing to understand when considering the impact of AI on healthcare jobs is that healthcare is notoriously understaffed. According to a survey by healthcare talent marketplace Vivian Health, 39% of physicians reported that the ratio of patients under their care had increased compared to the prior year. This in addition to the fact that new research, diagnostic tools, and machinery are being introduced everyday in healthcare means that there will be a place for humans in healthcare. So far, AI tools used in healthcare are mostly used in running the day to day activities of hospitals and other medical centers. For the foreseeable future, 

Finance is a field that is founded on the ability of the people who work in it to identify patterns and make decisions with money. Both of these can be done with the help of AI tools and algorithms meaning that a lot of finance companies are now investing in AI both for themselves and their clients. The technology can be used to provide advanced financial analytics and credit assessment, build predictive models that help in making financial decisions, and help financial institutions to research investment opportunities. This of course means that the market value of AI in finance is growing rapidly. It was estimated to be $9.45 billion in 2021 and could grow 16.5 percent by 2025.

While AI is definitely helping to make a lot of tasks and processes in finance easier and faster, it does not necessarily mean that humans can be replaced completely with AI. Working in finance involves a lot of skills that can not fully be duplicated by machines, interpreting and analyzing data, creating and building relationships with clients, tracking market trends and understanding market nuances. 

There is not a field where AI has had a greater impact than in the tech industry. Since John McCarthy created the term “artificial intelligence” in 1956, research and innovation in artificial intelligence and/or technology has been intertwined. In fact, the development of the first AI programming language LISP directly influenced the creation of languages like JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. This explains why AI is so readily embraced by many in the tech industry. The technology is used in cybersecurity, infrastructure management, software development, data analysis, and so much more. According to IDC, global spending on AI systems will reach more than $500 billion by 2027.

The speedy integration of AI into many technological systems has resulted in the need by many in the tech industry to understand what AI means for the future of jobs. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT that are said to be able to write and interpret code are also a course for concern among programmers and software developers. While these tools are very impressive, it is important to note that they ate a long way from perfect. By virtue of being machines, they are unable to unders human contexts and nuances and this applies to the work that they generate. 

Because of this, they are unable to create large software projects on their own and still rely on humans to input prompts and directions. AI generated materials including code can also contain bugs and inconsistencies that make them unusable. For the time being, human jobs in the tech industry are not going anywhere.

The entertainment industry has been at the forefront of new technologies. From the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Exison which was used to record and playback sound all the way to virtual reality and interactive media now, technology has always been used as a way to communicate stories and ideas to an audience. Today, the introduction of AI to the general public has created a new and improved way to tell stories and reach people. Using AI, creators can generate voices in real time, create images and avatars, and even generate videos with simple prompts. This has lowered the barriers to entry considerably allowing smaller creators and media companies to be able to compete with larger companies.

Last year, both the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America went on one of the longest labor strikes in Hollywood history over concerns that their jobs were in danger because of AI. The strike ended with a new contract that contained strong rule guards that detailed how AI can be best used as a tool not a replacement in the making of film and television. Aside from film making, AI’s strongest role in the creative world is that of an assistant, automating mundane tasks and helping with uneventful activities, leaving creatives to do what they do best. 

Education is widely understood to be one of the most important yet thankless professions in the world today. All around the globe, teachers and educators are faced with low pay, long hours, and very low support and resources leading to educator shortages. According to a survey of K-12 public school teachers, nearly 9 in 10 teachers said that they work more than the standard 40 hours per week with most of them working an average of 53 hours per week. As a result of this, classrooms are turning to technology to help teachers improve their lesson plans and encourage personalized learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic also created an opportunity to lean into the convenience and help that technology offers to educators. With AI in particular, teachers are able to focus on one-on-one interactions with students with the help of personalized AI assistants. The technology can also be used to streamline and automate administrative tasks allowing teachers to focus fully on the learning and development of their students. More specifically, AI can be used in the educating of students with learning disabilities like autism and ADHD, giving them the chance to learn alongside their classmates. 

As with all jobs that deal with human interactions, it will be very difficult to find an AI model that can effectively replace teachers in the classroom. Only an human educator can connect with students and understand the specific needs and guidance that is required for specific students. AI is only making the job easier for teachers who will do the actual job of teaching.

AI has been a great tool across many industries helping with creating new media, connecting with students, predicting finance trends, and even diagnosing cancer. With all of these different ways to utilize the technology, it is easy to understand why people are both excited about AI and scared of what it means for their jobs. However, for all of the strengths that AI has, it is still not human and so its capabilities are limited. Ultimately, as long as AI cannot understand human nuances and contexts, our jobs are safe.