Digital transformation concept. System engineering. Binary code. Programming.
In the midst of all the hubbub about AI eliminating jobs – tens of millions of them around the globe, as the frenzied panic has it – lies the simple truth that AI will have three major effects on jobs:
1. Yes, some jobs will be eliminated. Disruptive technologies always do that, In fact, jobs are what these disruptions disrupt first and most. Remarkable grasp of the obvious, wouldn’t you say?
2. While some jobs will seem to disappear, they will actually shift from one sector to another. Analysts will be more in demand in real estate and less so in the routine aspects of warehousing. Job shifts might hurt individuals, but in the macro scale, are a net gain.
3. AI job creation has already begun – and the scale of it is growing exponentially. I expected seven years ago that 25% of jobs by 2025 will be ones that didn’t exist then. I was a little hyperbolic, but not so much, as it turns out. Things like machine learning engineers, natural language processing specialists, AI ethicists, bias testers, autonomous vehicle engineers, and augmented reality developers are at the head of the line. Jobs like supply chain analysts and sports metrics specialists will multiply as the capability becomes more widespread.
The net-net of it is that, like all major civilization changers before it – the personal computer jumps to mind – the result was the creation of millions of new jobs. It will be the same with AI but much bigger.
Here are 10 areas where you can not only expect job creation, you can bet on it:
AI can enhance medical diagnosis, personalized treatment plans, drug discovery, and telemedicine (although I see a downside to this). Whole new categories of jobs will spring forth, leading to increased demand for new types of healthcare professionals.
AI-powered adaptive learning platforms, virtual tutors, and personalized learning experiences will require new mind sets in educators, instructional designers, and AI trainers. This will also facilitate education to a billion people around the globe, which will bring along reductions in poverty and illness.
This is obvious, isn’t it? As cyber threats become more sophisticated, we’ll have no choice but to adopt a fight-fire-with-fire approach. there will be a growing and high urgency need for cybersecurity experts who can develop AI-based security solutions, analyze threats, and manage security infrastructure. The growth here will resemble the nuclear proliferation between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. in the 1950s and 1960s.
AI-driven algorithms improve fraud detection, risk assessment, algorithmic trading, and customer service in banking and finance, leading to increased demand for data scientists, financial analysts, and AI engineers.
Who needs humans to develop computers anymore, when they computers can do it all themselves? Think of it for all of a few seconds, and it becomes as plain as day, especially with quantum computing coming on so strong. But here’s the good news. The demand for algorithm developers will go through the roof.
When you can multiply your yield, limited only by the number of levels you can build upward, it’s an easy mental step to understand the role of AI. By governing hydroponics, AI enhances crop monitoring and overall agriculture management.
AI improves energy efficiency, facilitates predictive maintenance, and searches for renewable energy alternatives. Sustainability is a big winner here.
One need not look further than the automobile industry to see how AI-powered automation improves productivity, quality control, predictive maintenance, and supply chain management. in manufacturing. Robotics engineers and AI specialists jobs abound.
Air, sea, and land. All of the above will demand engineers in large numbers, not to mention the need to view and measure quality and maintenance in new ways.
AI enhances legal research and contract analysis, and will lead to increased demand for legal analysts, AI developers, and legal consultants.
While AI will lead to some job loss and displacement in certain sectors, it also will create far more new ones. It’s already happening.
