Technolandy

Day 125 (of 2024/25) jobs of the future ( a shrinking list)

Bill Gates had a thought… https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/bill-gates-ai-taking-over-jobs-886912-20250326

But i think his list is a bit askew… coding is already being taken on by AI; and as much as AI can do creative arts (I’m looking forward to doing a prompt for personalized books – such as a time traveling nanobot dinosaur adventure written in the voice of Michael Crichton…) but it doesn’t mean it will be an exclusive club… though it may be better if the future was like socialist/communist start trek… once replicators…err 3D printers … are better designed, then the shift of ‘work’ changes… as said in both Star Trek and The Orville – people can pursue passions and get social ‘wealth’ by their contributions!

As this artist points out – have AI take care of things like ‘media promotion’ to allow more time for creating content. https://youtube.com/shorts/a0FOWd0HlAo?si=A6zKQhIgBJaeP2-b

As I like to think – there will be a collaborative environment sooner than later (tomorrow’s ’first of the month book share’ focuses on AI). And I’ve bee nervous since automated restaurants became more of a ‘thing’ https://youtu.be/48rkq90vOBY?si=3tVe0cWFQq9iVt5O including the shift to more apps and self-order boards – especially in fast food restaurants. But also self-checkouts in stores (heck, some stores have no-checkouts – the cameras are watching!) 

Bill’s List:

Coders (I disagree as AI is currently coding things itself better/more efficiently than most humans can – there will always be the Wozniaks of the world, but that is a smaller segment of the workforce) I agree with the role of monitors and supervisors to doublecheck work or to be run as a ‘comparison/test group’. 

Energy experts – with energy sector being ‘too complex’ for AI at this time… probably more because oil, coal, nuclear (and even renewable energy sectors) have too many lobbyists keeping their claws on the $ – especially since N Tesla’s concept at Wardenclyffe for free electricity stopped getting support from JP Morgan, because of an argument over how to price/monitor usage. 

Biologists – use AI as a tool, but lacks the necessary creativity (or accidents? Just thinking about the discovery of insulin…) to make scientific discovery – which is also why I am not a fan of ‘recipe card scientific experiments’ in school – I wish I got to do more exploration when a basic experiment my lab mate and were doing in grade 11 did not work… even with the teacher looking over our shoulders to watch what we were doing… when the third did not go ‘as promised’ we were told to just copy notes from a successful experiment rather than dig deeper in this ‘error’. 

Ian’s List:

Right now, sports seems pretty resistant – though in the age of Video Review/Replay it won’t be long until there is an AI eye keeping the officials honest, until they are simply replaced…

I haven’t seen YouTube/TikTok algorithms capture my viewing time as well as humans have. 

Human interaction will be a ‘added enrichment at a cost’ – from restaurant chefs to baristas… from teachers to lawyers. As much as many (in the comments section) liked to pretend the care sector would not be appropriate for AI… in some cases, the AI interaction might be preferable… just saying I’ve experienced some judgements in my times in hospitals and care facilities as much as some amazing relational experiences. So, doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc will still have a human option… but until we reach the Star Trek/Orville level of ‘communism’ <— not the precise right description of these utopian communities, but when there is no need for money… except for the occasional use of gold pressed latinum…

My other bias of areas Bill ignored:

There will be a bias to support human created arts – photography/ movies / literature/ pottery / etc – but it will be supplemented by these artists using AI which will make AI even better at duplicating these tasks (I can see the time when a custom prompt will personalize reading – so even when artists have passed, their ‘style’ can live on (and I will continue to prompt a novel about time traveling dinosaurs taking on nanobots written in the style of Michael Crichton until my appetite is satisfied!) 

I’d like to say that the lists that pop up here and there are right – but every list I have seen I have doubt about – art directors? AI + canva. Web developers = AI + wix. Bloggers? Many of us have tried out AI to see what it comes up with, and it’s pretty good…

Teachers? Having seen how good AI tools can analyze reading and writing… and provide descriptive feedback in ways that I doubted it could do a few short years ago…? There are still components humans do better – especially with in-person environments with students sitting in rows <— but how much longer will this false environment continue to attract learners when the alternatives (home school / online learning) continue to get better and better – where some schools are better able to pivot towards building off individuals strengths rather than having them conform to the crowd around them? Yes, I will continue to mention that I think AI + personal devices is the education disruption many of us started worrying about shortly after Blockbuster missed its moment with Netflix… AI won’t hold a grudge nor compare you directly to siblings it taught previously… Robots can take an insult without getting triggered… and can literally have eyes in the back of its head if the classroom with pupils of same year of manufacture continues to be en vogue. 

But AI-proof? With 3D printed houses et al getting better and better – how much longer will human plumbers, welders, et al be able to keep away robotic analysis/maintenance skills?

What jobs do you think AI/Robots won’t be able to replace us with – and again – this could be the way to get us into a utopia civilization – where poverty et al become things we only read about. Or human connections could be offered ‘at a cost’ and keep the current form of capitalism running wild for generations to come… until our future robot overlords show us better…!