Will generative AI take my job?

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI taking jobs. During my AI literacy workshops I regularly hear from managers, content writers, data scientists, software developers, analysts, researchers, who are wondering if AI is going to take their job. 

It’s a perfectly normal question to ask. Seeing a new technology create words, pictures, videos, audio, and code from a few sentences is as impressive as it is jarring. Ambiguity makes us all nervous. The answer to whether or not AI will take your job is complicated. 

Some good news: We’ve been through this before. This isn’t the first time we’ve been through a panic about AI taking our jobs. In 2016, the World Economic Forum released a report tilted, “The Fourth Industrial Revolution.” It predicted that 7 million jobs would be lost to artificial intelligence and automation between 2017-2020. Another report by Forester from the same year predicted 6% of workers will lose their jobs to AI by 2021. 

The reports triggered headlines like this: 

2016 headlines about AI taking jobs

Those headlines triggered frantic searches for jobs that AI can't replace. Someone built a “will AI take my job” calculator. In 2018, I wrote a book for people concerned about robots taking their jobs, showing how to upskill for AI in the workplace. 

So did anyone lose their job to a robot? It’s hard to know because there is no single place that’s tracking if a job is replaced by AI. Also, not all the predictions were correct. It was predicted that there would be fewer taxis and truck drivers by 2021 thanks to self driving cars. That hasn’t exactly panned out. 

In 2023 ChatGPT launched into our lives and the conversation around AI replacing human jobs reached new levels. 

2023 headlines about AI taking jobs

AI and your job in 2024: it’s complicated 

Back to our elephant: will AI take our jobs? There isn’t a single answer to this because again, it’s complicated. The main story we hear about AI is that it won’t replace people, it will simply free people from tedious tasks. 

That outcome is possible. We’re already seeing popular workplace tools like Microsoft and Zoom integrate generative AI into products we use everyday in the workplace. The tools do things like create emails, summarize meetings, and more. 

The pitch is that AI will make us more efficient, not replace us. But adding more tools doesn’t not necessarily make our work better. The Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel writes about how generative AI and the workplace might turn out, in Here’s How AI Will Come for Your Job:  

“[Google] will soon introduce AI functions into programs such as Gmail, Google Sheets, and Google Slides that will allow users to type simple commands and receive complex outputs: entire email compositions, for example, or auto-generated tables. The future that Google is promising feels familiar—it’s all about heightened convenience and one-click efficiency—and I hate it….This is how AI comes for our jobs, one ChatGPT-generated slide deck and inbox integration at a time. It’s a vision of the true AI apocalypse on the horizon that feels more like a soulless grind. Humanity isn’t to be obliterated by a vengeful artificial sentience, and office workers probably won’t be replaced en masse with machines; instead, we will be expected to produce and behave more like robots ourselves.”

Using AI to increase efficiency at work isn’t the only possible outcome. Companies generally don’t announce they’re replacing workers with AI. If it’s a high profile company, we might hear about efforts to replace workers with AI. Duolingo replaced their translators with AI. It’s rumored that Google is replacing some ad employees with a new AI system.

There have been a couple studies this year attributing the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT to the decrease in certain freelance jobs. Instead of hiring a freelancer to write copy or create logos, companies are using generative tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT to do the work instead.  

Most likely, companies will experiment with replacing some workers with AI. Whether they succeed or not, we likely won’t hear much about it.

Wharton professor Ethan Mollick recently wrote about a company trying to replace jobs with AI before they hire a person:

“Before a new hire is approved, the team has to spend a couple hours trying to automate the potential job using AI. They can only post new openings after they see how much AI can supplement or replace the need for a new employee.” 

Elsewhere there are AI companies marketing AI solutions to replace workers because it’s cheaper, like this healthcare AI startup. 

Another example is from a synthetic AI voice company, advocating for the use of AI voices over human ones. 

The reality: AI can’t do your job

While the recent release of ChatGPT has been impressive, AI isn’t good enough. to do entire jobs. Generative AI can do some tasks which make up parts of some jobs. But most jobs aren’t a single task. They’re a combination of tasks to complete, requiring specific skills and knowledge.  

The more likely outcome is that more people will be working with AI-tools to complete parts of their job.

When anyone says, “AI will replace {insert job here}”, ask for specifics. Ask them clarifying questions: How will AI do the job? Which tasks will AI do? Who decides what tasks AI does and doesn’t do? Will AI replace all roles across all industries? 

Upskilling for AI in the workplace

It is not predetermined that AI will take our jobs. But you will be working with AI tools in your job at some point in the next couple years. 

So first, let’s acknowledge that it’s perfectly valid to wonder what will happen to our jobs as AI evolves. 

The goal is to not hide from AI. Instead of trying to find jobs that AI can't replace, commit to learning more about AI. Start building your AI literacy skills. Ask questions about AI at your workplace. Ask your manager about AI tools for your work. 

Research the products that are being promoted in your industry and learn how they might (or might not!) fit into your role. Sign up for a demo and ask lots of questions. You can learn a lot by just asking questions about how AI tools are used. 

Take a course on generative AI for non technical learners. Learn what AI can do well and what it can’t do well. 

Finally, instead of asking if AI will take your job, ask better questions:

• How might AI change your work? 

• How might AI-powered tools change your work? 

• What AI tools can you use in your job? 

• How is AI being used now in your industry? 

• What is the impact on AI in your job/industry now? 

• What can you learn now about AI to help you prepare for to use AI in your job?

By reframing the question, you’re better positioned to understand AI’s impact on your industry or role. 

Stay curious and commit to learning more about how AI works in 2024.

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