Will AI replace jobs? 17 job types that might be affected

Examples of AI job replacement

One recent case of AI job replacement came when a writer at a tech startup was let go without explanation, but later found references to her as "Olivia/ChatGPT" on the work Slack channel. She also found communications from her managers about how ChatGPT was cheaper than using a writer. So, while there was no official explanation for the job loss, the signs pointed to AI.

The Writers Guild of America also went on strike, saying they wanted more regulation of AI in addition to higher wages and more residuals from streaming platforms.

GenAI might also disproportionately affect the jobs of women, according to a recent study from the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise. Approximately 79% of working women have positions that are susceptible to automation versus 58% of working men.

In past automation-fueled labor fears, machines would automate tedious, repetitive work. GenAI is different in that it automates creative tasks such as writing, coding and even music making. For example, musician Paul McCartney used AI to partially generate his late bandmate John Lennon's voice to create a posthumous Beatles song. In this case, mimicking a voice worked to the musician's benefit, but that might not always be the case.

Other ways AI could affect jobs

Job replacement isn't the only effect AI could have on work. The positive angle is human-machine cooperation. AI will help people improve their work experience by automating rote, repetitive tasks. The technology will maximize the "goods" of work while minimizing the "bads." This may contribute to a surge in AI jobs and increased demand for AI skills.

AI needs a lot of human feedback. For example, LLMs train using a process called reinforcement learning from human feedback where people fine tune models by repeatedly ranking outputs from best to worst. A May 2023 paper also describes the phenomenon of model collapse, which states that LLMs malfunction without a connection to human-produced data sets.

There's also a another angle -- that workers will collaborate with AI, but it will stunt their productivity. For example, a generative AI chatbot might create an overabundance of low-quality content. Editors would then need to write additional content to flesh out the articles, pushing the search for unique sources of information lower on their list of priorities.

Jobs most affected by AI

Writing is just one example of a job being automated by the latest AI systems, but there are many job types that could be affected in various ways, including the following:

1. Administrative

GenAI tools can help office administrators and assistants with tasks such as basic email correspondence, identifying data trends, finding mutually available meeting times across time zones and other summary/synthesis exercises.

For example, Microsoft 365 Copilot -- a collection of AI-powered tools integrated into Microsoft's productivity suite -- could radically increase office workers' productivity.

2. Content writers

Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini can generate text that aims to convince readers that a human wrote it. This has implications for content writers, especially in fields that require less nuance, originality or factual accuracy. Original or specialized writing might become increasingly valuable as generic, AI-generated writing proliferates on the internet, obscuring genuine human perspectives.

These tools can aid content writers in developing ideas, fixing grammar or syntax and doing high-level research.

3. Coding

Programs such as ChatGPT can write fluent, syntactically correct code faster than most humans, so coders who are primarily valued for producing high volumes of low-quality code quickly might be concerned. Coders who produce a quality product might have nothing to fear, however, and use AI to improve their workflow instead.

4. Customer service

The customer service sector offers many opportunities for automation. AI-powered chatbots can provide speedy, personalized responses to customer questions, reducing the need for human workers. There are many examples of AI in customer service pre-ChatGPT, including the following:

• Robotic process automation.
• Customer self-service.
• Chatbots.
• Sentiment analysis.

It's likely customer service departments will continue to integrate the newest AI technologies.

Currently, ChatGPT can't automate an entire contact center, but there are many ways it could lighten the workload, such as translating or summarizing customer inquiries.

5. Drivers

The prevalence of AI in vehicles has the potential to affect car and truck driving jobs. Rideshare companies are partnering with self-driving car providers to minimize the need for human drivers and give riders the option to ride in an autonomous vehicle.

The trucking industry uses AI for driver assistance and accident prevention systems, route planning, predictive maintenance and more advanced driver training systems. AI is changing the role of the truck driver and their daily responsibilities. This has the potential to create new efficiencies in the space. It also might create new challenges as workers adapt to the technology.

6. Legal

There is significant evidence indicating AI will affect legal jobs.

AI will eventually perform many of the tasks paralegals and legal assistants typically handle, according to one study by authors from Princeton University, New York University and the University of Pennsylvania. A March 2023 study from Goldman Sachs said AI could perform 44% of the tasks that U.S. and European legal assistants typically handle. GPT-4, OpenAI's latest and greatest language model, passed the Uniform Bar Examination in the 90^th percentile.

AI could help automate routine law tasks such as the following:

• Document review.
• Contract analysis.
• Legal research.
• Searches for relevant case law.

7. Marketing

AI can automate several marketing-related tasks such as personalized content creation, customer segmentation, social media management and data analysis. Generative AI tools can help marketers create marketing content, personalize sales emails and score leads at a faster rate than humans can. AI can also help SEO marketers optimize content with meta descriptions and title tags, and solidify a consistent brand voice across marketing materials.

One example of a generative AI-powered marketing campaign was the #NotJustACadburyAd campaign, which used the digital likeness of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan to create thousands of hyper-personalized ads for small local businesses. The campaign used a microsite that enabled small-business owners to create their own version of the ad featuring the Bollywood star.

8. Manufacturing

In manufacturing, AI has long played a critical role in automating repetitive, rote physical tasks. By using AI and robots to automate assembly line tasks such as product assembly, welding and packaging, manufacturers can benefit. Computer vision systems in manufacturing can identify flaws in the product using machine learning and sensor data. AI systems integrated with robots have the potential to increase precision, productivity and quality, reducing downtime on the assembly line and in manufacturing more broadly.

AI is also changing the nature of work in warehouses. Amazon fulfillment centers use autonomous mobile robots to help workers on the warehouse floor with retrieving and consolidating inventory.

9. Teachers

Teachers could be affected by AI in several ways. The immediate concern is that they will have a harder time detecting plagiarism or students cheating on assignments. But AI could help teachers by doing the following:

• Acting as productivity tools.
• Drafting lesson plans.
• Generating quiz questions and mock tests.

Teacher sentiments range from being worried about the technology replacing them to insisting that the in-person classroom connection is essential to education.

Some people draw an analogy between ChatGPT and when students weren't allowed to use calculators in the classroom. Now, most people have a calculator app on their smartphone. There might also be a time when it becomes accepted for students to use ChatGPT to aid with schoolwork.

10. Travel and tourism

AI can help travelers discover new destinations and travel opportunities. AI assistants and chatbots let users book flights, rent vehicles and find accommodations online and offer a personalized booking experience. AI can also perform flight forecasting, which helps prospective travelers find the cheapest time to book a flight based on automated analysis of historical price patterns.

Travel companies can also use AI to analyze the deluge of data that customers in their industry generate constantly. For example, travel companies can use AI to help aggregate and interpret customer feedback, reviews and polls to evaluate the company’s performance and develop strategies for improvement.

11. Translators

AI has the potential to affect the translation services industry. AI improves the capability of translation services, enabling automated, real-time translation in multiple languages. Translation requires a certain level of nuance, as translators need to be able interpret body language and emotions of the speaker or in the text they are translating.

Translation jobs that require less nuance -- such as entry level jobs involving literal text translation -- are more likely to implement AI successfully.

12. Finance

AI is also making an impact on finance and banking. GenAI could be used to monitor transactions and give detailed financial advice on how to save and spend efficiently. For example, Morgan Stanley uses AI-powered chatbots to organize its database.

13. Graphic designers

Adobe Photoshop's new Generative Fill feature is one example of the way generative AI can augment the graphic design profession. The feature lets people with no photo editing experience make photorealistic edits using a text prompt. Other tools -- such as Dall-E and Midjourney -- also create realistic looking images and detailed artistic renderings from a text prompt.

14. Engineering

Generative design uses AI to expedite the computer-aided design process. Generative design helps with ideation, generating all computationally possible solutions to a problem within a given set of parameters -- even when the design is completely novel and a radical change from anything that has come before.

Even though generative design affects the field of mechanical design, it is unlikely to replace human engineers.

15. Human resources

The hype around AI and the fear of job losses has created a difficult dynamic for HR departments to manage in the interim.

"[Generative AI] will infiltrate every aspect of HR," said Patrick Thibodeau, a senior news writer at TechTarget, in a podcast. However, AI-powered recruiting tools could be used to do the following:

• Source qualified candidates.
• Review resumes.
• Automate recruiter tasks.

AI chatbots could also be used internally to help employees access their benefits and perform other self-service tasks.

16. Retail

AI is affecting retail checkout and cashier positions as well, reducing the need for human employees. Automated self-checkout stations are becoming increasingly common. These systems can handle transactions independently, manage inventory and even collect data on customer behavior -- such as purchase frequency and average basket weight. Automated self-checkout systems can also help to detect fraudulent activity.

In Amazon stores, AI-powered retail systems can automatically start a customer’s shopping session by using turnstiles to identify the customer and match their physical presence in the store to their online profile and digital wallet. Other stores use computer vision to automatically add a product to the customer’s virtual shopping cart when they remove the product from the shelf.

17. Supply chain

AI can provide transparency into increasingly complex and expansive supply chains for manufacturers. AI-powered supply chain management tools can track supplies as they make their way through the various links and partners in the supply chain. AI in supply chain management has the potential to improve demand forecasting, inventory evaluation, customer communication, operational performance and even sustainability.

Despite, generative AI’s positive effect in this field, it also comes with risk in the form AI hallucinations, which can potentially introduce inaccurate or useless information.

What AI legislation is there?

In recent months, leaders in the AI industry have been actively seeking legislation, but there is no comprehensive federal approach to AI in the United States. Still, there have been state- and city-level rules passed. Several states -- including California, Illinois, Texas and Colorado -- have introduced or passed laws focused on protecting consumers from harms caused by AI.

New York City passed a bill, Local Law 144, regulating the use of AI in recruiting effective July 5, 2023. The law requires independent audits of AI hiring tools and publication of findings.

Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic launched the Frontier Model Forum on July 26, 2023. The forum aims to advance AI safety research, identify best practices for AI development and collaborate with policymakers to develop applications that help solve societal challenges. Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection also pledged to subject AI systems to third-party testing before releasing systems to the government, and to clearly label generated content.

The European Union has the AI Act, which establishes a common regulatory and legal framework for AI in the EU. The U.S. Congress is not likely to pass comprehensive regulations similar to the EU legislation in the immediate future. However, there are several proposed federal laws and frameworks in the U.S. surrounding AI, including the SAFE Innovation AI Framework, which consists of a set of guidelines for AI companies, developers and policymakers; and The REAL Political Advertisements Act, which focuses on generative AI in political advertisements.

On June 21, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer formally unveiled an open-ended plan for AI regulation, explaining that it could take months to reach a consensus on a comprehensive proposal. Schumer emphasized that the regulations should focus on protecting workers, national security, copyright issues and protection from doomsday scenarios. In May 2024, Schumer and several other senators released a document to guide congressional committees' approaches to future AI bills.

On Oct. 30, 2023, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on artificial intelligence. The order, though not a law, is a binding government action. The executive order aims to protect consumer privacy, create educational resources, create new AI government jobs, advance equity and civil rights in AI in the justice system and support workers in response to AI's effects on the workforce. More than 40 state AI bills were introduced in 2023 alone.

Read more about the status of AI regulation in the U.S. and around the world in 2024.

Ben Lutkevich is site editor for TechTarget Software Quality. Previously, he wrote definitions and features for Whatis.com.