There has always been a great fear of new technologies, not because they will dominate the world but because they will take away jobs. Since the beginning of the 2000s and the digital revolution, this concern has continued, it is as if we were living a third industrial revolution, with the simple difference that no job is safe in this one. We are talking, of course, about the arrival of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the impact it is having on all sectors of the population. It may not have reached you yet, but its shockwave will reach you very soon, and this is no longer a fiction film, it is a reality that is knocking on our doors. Do we remember Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? When his father is fired from the toothpaste factory because a machine does it better?… Well, the future that awaits us is going to be similar.

And, faced with this panorama that seems very bleak, a disturbing question appears… will my job be safe?

This concern is normal, so don’t feel silly for fearing for your job. Let’s talk here about what’s happening and how we can prepare for it. In this article we’ll explore what’s happening, who’s most at risk, and how we can prepare for the future.

Why is AI revolutionizing the world of work?

AI has stopped being a concept from movies to become an everyday tool that practically everyone uses. Technologies like ChatGPT are automating tasks that once seemed exclusive to humans and are used for absolutely everything, from looking for the recipe for your favourite cake to carrying out research work that would take you days to look for information in books.

The developers of GPT themselves believe that this tool is so powerful that their work is impossible to detect as being generated by machines… This is good news for companies looking for efficiency, but for workers who depend on these tasks to earn a living, it has not been so happy…

According to OpenAI itself, 80% of jobs in the near future will be affected by AI.

It is estimated that 20% of all jobs will see AI replace more than half of their jobs, a completely devastating figure considering the economic crises that many countries are facing and the precarious jobs that exist in others… We would be talking about (even more) disfavouring the most vulnerable groups in increasing the productivity of companies.

What jobs are at risk?

Let’s make a list of the jobs that are at risk and organize them by sector:

1. Technology sector: blockchain engineers, user interface designers, fintech engineers, security analysts, AI specialists and robotics specialists
2. Creative professions: journalists, reporters, public relations and translators.
3. Administrative staff such as accountants, managers, auditors and legal secretaries
4. Analytical professions, such as financial analysts, demographic analysts or business intelligence analysts.

But be careful, although these occupy the top positions in the top, those that come after are not far behind in terms of vulnerability levels. We are talking about programmers, graphic designers, photographers, biologists, court reporters, simultaneous translators, proofreaders, engineers, draftsmen, architects… in short, the list seems endless…

Are there jobs that are not at risk?

For now, it seems that there are jobs that are far from being replaced because they require direct human interaction, such as sports athletes, agricultural machinery operators, car window installers, cooks, manual cutters, oil and gas drilling rig operators, waiters and dining room assistants, bricklayers, painters, plumbers, electricians, sharpeners, well pumpers… anything that has to do with strength or construction work.

The future is in our hands, but the advance of artificial intelligence is impossible to stop. What can we do? As the saying goes, if you can’t beat the enemy, join him. Perhaps the jobs of the future have not yet been invented, but if you are looking for what to study, we recommend cybersecurity or AI ethics management. There is still a lot to rethink, both us and governments, in the face of this new panorama, because they will have to implement job retraining programs or offer alternative opportunities for workers in these sectors.

Even so, the key is not to fight against machines but to learn to work together with them.