TECHNOLOGY

Needing a “Human Touch” Won’t Make Your Job Safe From AI

People skills won’t last all that long either

DALLE image by author: Photorealistic drawing of a robot using a camera to record a scenic view

I imagine you could easily find a few thousand articles that discuss AI (artificial intelligence) and insist that certain jobs will be safe from being replaced by intelligent computers. According to them, there are jobs that computers will never do.

I’ll say this loudly:

The only jobs that are safe from AI will be those that we protect with laws. The only job that I know for sure will be protected is that of politicians and even that may only apply at the highest levels of government.

Sorry for shouting like that.

Arguments against AI taking your job

Typically the unworried person looks around at the jobs that robotics and AI like ChatGPT are threatening and thinks, “Well, sure, those jobs are at risk. But my job requires people skills, I’m safe.”

Another unimpressed individual might tell us that their job is more art than science; that computers can’t discern aesthetic value.