The rapid development in the field of Artificial Intelligence has directly put millions of human jobs on the firing line. Does that mean that robots are finally going to take over everything? Yes, and no.
Automation is not a new concept; it has been around since the industrial revolution.
Machines have consistently replaced the need for human workers in various industries over time. If that's the case, why is everyone worried about automation all of a sudden? The answer to that question is Machine Learning. It is a process by which computers are trained to learn and process information just like human beings do. And this is the technology that has jump-started the AI revolution. Suddenly, computers are capable of teaching themselves to do tasks instead of human beings having to program them.
For example, take Google Deepmind's AlphaZero. It is an AI-based chess engine that taught itself how to play chess by playing millions of games against itself. All engineers had to do was lay down the rules of the game to AlphaZero. And guess what? It managed to beat every other top chess engine that was programmed by humans. All this while, human beings haven't come close to beating any existing chess engine in nearly 20 years. That is the power of machine learning.
So, if the AI takeover of jobs is inevitable, will any jobs survive the upcoming apocalypse? Of course. If your job cannot be broken down into small repetitive tasks, you are more or less safe from automation. With that in mind, the three main elements that jobs in the future would demand are - STEM education, creativity, and emotional intelligence.
Now let us take a look at some popular jobs that will remain safe when AI eventually takes over.
1. Engineers
With the prevalence of robots and other automated systems, the future would need a lot of engineers. From building the hardware to programming the software, and doing maintenance on all these machines, engineers would be required everywhere.
Think about the engineers working on Tesla's Autopilot for example. Fifteen years ago, this was a job that was non-existent. But now, almost every major automobile company has teams working on some sort of self-driving capabilities. Even Apple is said to be working on a self-driving car; a project into which Apple has pumped in billions of dollars over the past decade and in turn has created new jobs to employ some of the best minds in the world.
2. Psychologists/Psychiatrists
As mentioned above, emotional intelligence is something that robots will not be able to mimic anytime soon. The ability of humans to connect emotionally with other human beings cannot be replaced by any machine right now. When Google showcased 'Duplex', an extension of their Google Assistant which could make calls on a person's behalf and set appointments, a large part of the world felt creeped out which eventually resulted in Google taking a step back with the entire project. People felt that it was unnatural to listen to an AI talk like a human being and try to mimic our way of speaking.
Now imagine a similar scenario in a mental health clinic where instead of a human being, you have to talk to an AI. The technology is nowhere close to achieving that, but even if it was close, humans are farther away from accepting it.
Sports Psychologists, Career Guidance Counselors, Mental Health professionals etc will all have a place in the future.
3. Healthcare Professionals
While robots have played an important role in surgical advancements over the past couple of decades, they are still a long way away from replacing doctors or nurses. Robots will make things easier for our healthcare professionals going into the future and will improve the quality of healthcare provided all over the world. But the jobs of our healthcare professionals will remain intact.
One of the most important qualities that our healthcare professionals exhibit is empathy, how exactly do you teach that to an AI? Scientists haven't figured that out yet, and it's going to be a long while before they do.
4. Writers/Content Producers/Artists
The human mind is still the best when it comes to creation. While AI has improved to the point where it can learn things as well as humans do, or in some cases do better than us. Creativity is something that cannot be taught or learned. It's something that comes from within. And that for the time being is unique to us human beings.
While a robot may be able to write a piece of legal document or construct the terms and conditions for a particular product, it will find it impossible to write a love story, or a drama or even poetry with the same emotional depth as that of human writers.
Fictional Writers, Singers, Music Composers, Film Directors, Actors etc are some of the different types of creative jobs that are not at risk of being taken over by robots.
5. Leaders and Managers
If you ask some of the best managers in the world, they will tell you that managing is a people skill. While number crunching, technical know-how, and data analytics, etc. play an important role, it ultimately boils down to whether you can bring the best out of the individuals you manage or not. And for that, you need essential human interaction skills such as the ability to motivate, negotiate and persuade.
For example, Politicians cannot be replaced by AI. Humanity is not going to accept a future where robots determine their future through policy decisions. Robots themselves will be incapable of understanding human emotions behind the decisions that our current politicians make.
Some of the different leadership roles that would continue to exist in the future are
- Human Resource Managers
- Client Relations Managers
- Politicians
- Marketing Managers
6. Teaching
While AI can be a great tool to improve the learning experience for students, it is not going to replace teachers from classrooms anytime soon. Teaching is based on individual students, their interests, their aptitude, and their goals and ambitions.
The emotional intelligence required to understand the needs of each individual student, and build an approach based on that is a skill that only human beings possess. With more and more people opting to pursue higher education and acquire new skills, the demand for teachers will only increase in the future.
While these are some of the career options available right now that automation cannot fully take over, you have to remember that automation will also create a lot of new jobs.
To give you an example, let's go back all the way to the industrial revolution. When the first textile mills were built, they took over the jobs of weavers, but the mills themselves needed someone to operate them. So, in the end, they ended up creating more jobs than they destroyed. Likewise, the following are some of the jobs that automation has already created.
- AI-Human Relationship Managers
- Cyber City Analysts
- AI Research Scientists
- Robot Maintenance And Quality Control Technicians
- Self Driving Vehicles Controller
- AI-Assisted Healthcare Technicians
There are many universities across the world that offer courses having such futuristic jobs in mind. The following are some of the best AI-based courses from the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
- Master Of Information Technology In Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Melbourne
- Master Of Artificial Intelligence from Monash University in Australia
- MSc Artificial Intelligence from King's College in London
- PhD In Interactive Artificial Intelligence from the University of Bristol
- PhD In Artificial Intelligence from the University of British Columbia in Canada
- MSc Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University in the USA
- PhD In Artificial Intelligence from Berkeley in California, USA
Automation is not something to be afraid of, like with every great advancement in the field of science and technology, it will bring about a lot of new opportunities. The only thing that matters is whether you are ready to adapt to the future.
As the old saying goes, change is the only constant. And those who ride the wave of change have always reaped its benefits. The same goes with automation, just make sure you are the one riding the wave.
If you liked this blog, do check out our awesome YouTube video on the same topic.
Did we mention we also have a podcast on Automation? Don't forget to check that out as well.
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