AI Won’t Replace Jobs Completely, They Will Evolve Though

Ever since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022, the question of whether or not AI will replace human jobs has been a hot topic. Elon Musk said at a tech conference in May 2024 that “probably none of us will have a job.” You may feel as though you are doomed to be replaced by an emotionless robot that was trained on 570 GB of data. While AI will undoubtedly change the job market drastically, this change will not necessarily be a bad thing. AI won’t replace jobs completely, but it will improve them.

Technophobia
It’s important to remember that society has always feared new technology. Every time new technology is invented, people fear it. Even the inventor of the radio feared whether he had “done the world good” or just “added a menace.” Yet today, there are 44,000 radio stations that broadcast to 5 billion people, or 70% of the world’s population. Furthermore, radios created many new jobs. 

Quality of AI
Another factor to keep in mind is the quality of AI. Although the amount of content ChatGPT can generate is impressive, it still has its limits. There are numerous articles online already on how to detect AI-generated writing. Furthermore, ChatGPT has a tendency to generate inaccurate information, rendering it useless in trying to replace a job. Even the founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, believes that the current state of AI is “wildly overhyped.” While ChatGPT can write a 5-paragraph essay in just a couple of seconds, there is no guarantee that this essay is well-written or even factually accurate.

Limits of AI
As impressive as AI is, at the end of the day, AI is not human. It can’t accurately replicate human qualities such as emotional intelligence, creativity, or physical dexterity. When asked, ChatGPT itself said that it can’t replace jobs that require human judgment, decision-making, or nuanced communication. AI also can’t create original and creative art. If you ask it to draw a picture of a dog, it will look in its database and generate an image that is an average of all the dog pictures in that database. It won’t be original. Because of this, ChatGPT has had many reports of plagiarism against it. A report from February 2024 revealed that 60% of ChatGPT responses are plagiarized. Furthermore, when asked, ChatGPT has given users copyrighted material, such as a chapter from a book.

Creation & Improvement of Jobs
First of all, AI will definitely create many new jobs. Forbes has a list of 20 different jobs that AI could create, including AI Trainer and Operator, AI Ethicist, and AI Security Engineer. Furthermore, AI will improve many different jobs. It can automate repetitive tasks, leaving more time for human workers to focus on more important tasks. It can also improve communication. For example, AI is helping deaf or hard of hearing people to communicate without a sign language interpreter in Brazil. “An AI engine can create real-time text and voice translation of Libras, the official Brazilian sign language,” Massimo Chiriatti wrote in a TechRadar article published in February 2024. 

So, the next time someone tells you that AI will replace your job in the future, don’t listen to them. AI isn’t perfect, nor is it an almighty being. New technology is always being invented and introduced to the world, and there are still numerous jobs in demand. AI is no different. It won’t replace your job entirely, but it can certainly improve it and create new ones.