On July 12, 2022, Midjourney AI image generator entered open beta. Only four months later, on November 30, Chat GPT launched. Artists were already upset about Midjourney using their images without permission (or royalties), but all of a sudden entire knowledge professions which had previously seemed pretty safe from automation appeared to be on the verge of getting wiped out by Chat GPT. It could write copy for websites, generate essays for students, create blog posts and social media posts, and even write code without breaking a sweat – and many people couldn’t differentiate Chat GPT’s work from that of a human writer.

What happened next was predictable.

Anxiety. Schools started looking at ways to tell if a student had plagiarized from Chat GPT (is that even plagiarism?). Software developers started wondering if they would have a job after all this. Copywriters got worried about their jobs too. Just like every previous wave of automation, people got nervous – this time, it was knowledge workers who had previously thought they were pretty safe from automation.

But previous waves of automation in manufacturing and other industries have not wiped out the livelihood of everyone who worked in those industries. When manufacturing jobs got replaced by machines, where did those people go?

Many of them retrained into other industries, including building and maintaining the very machines that replaced them. Others entered newer industries which were just starting around the same time – like renewable energy and software development.

A report by PwC notes that one third of all jobs could be automated in the next decade. So does that mean that a third of us will be out of a job? Not necessarily – and according to the World Economic Forum, that’s highly unlikely. WEF is predicting that automation will create millions more jobs than it eliminates. So what are these highly coveted jobs, and what skills do you need to get one?

Learn to Use Generative AI

The first thing you should be doing is learning how to use generative AI. Because you know what? It might be able to generate all sorts of text, but it still needs someone to give it a prompt – and it’s not as simple as typing in a random set of words. Knowing how to manipulate the prompt to provide the exact output you are looking for is a skill, which is why people are selling AI-generated art even when anyone can go create an account and start making their own.

Generative AI is likely going to revolutionize almost every job we can think of. Start using it now, and get ahead of the curve. Here are some examples of how people can start incorporating generative AI in their work:

• Tattoo artists could use text prompts to generate options for tattoo designs based on client requests, and use iterations to narrow down design decisions before digitally creating the artwork themselves.
• Software developers could test different algorithms using ChatGPT before writing the code themselves (or editing the code that the AI provides).
• Clinicians could use generative AI to help diagnose patients through iterative dialogue – this would require an AI trained in medicine, but there are already many models out there.
• Researchers (like me) could use generative AI to quickly develop ideas and summarize existing research and thoughts around a particular topic – such as finding out what are the most popular views or which are the most popular books.
• Facilitators could generate lists of discussion ideas at the drop of a hat.
• People like me can start a blog and have tons of custom made artwork which I own the rights to and which I create – without needing to learn photoshop.

Learn to Maintain the AI Engines

This is the modern equivalent of “learn to build & maintain the machines that replaced you”. AI needs human intervention to help build it, train it and maintain it. When AI doesn’t have human oversight, it quickly goes off the rails – which means that working with AI is going to be a human job for a while yet. Better yet, get into AI governance and help to correct some of the bias and ethics issues with current AIs.

If you want to go one step further, start learning how to build AI and work on developing the next generation of generative AIs. Chat GPT, Midjourney and DALL-E2 are hardly the pinnacle of AI, and as with any new field, jobs are guaranteed to be around for a while. There are lots of paid courses around on how to code AI, but you can probably self-study a lot of it using chat boards and YouTube.

Caring Professions are Generally Safe from AI

A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece called “Digital Compassion: How Artificial Intelligence can Transform Patient-Centered Care” where I argued that AI might be able to augment how humans do our job, but it’s actually not great at caring for people. The conclusion was that AI has a place, but so do humans. Caring professions (like nursing) are much less likely to be automated than knowledge-based professions (such as physicians) because AI can’t show care for a person. I know, I know, we all like to see videos of those cute little robots wandering around nursing homes cheering up the residents – but does anyone actually think those robots are replacing human contact? I don’t think so.

Some of the top caring professions predicted to grow over the next 20 years are:

• Nurse practitioner
• Physical therapy assistant
• Home health and personal care aides
• Teachers
• Substance abuse, mental health and behavioural counsellors

There is likely a human/caring aspect to whatever you are doing now. Lean into that and see where it takes you.

You Might be Replaced by AI, But You Will Be Okay

If there’s one takeaway from all of this, it’s that thinking about the future and what skills you need in order to succeed is key to navigating the uncertain world of generative AI. Your job might be replaced with AI but there will still be a role for you. Rock on, my people.

Wondering what Chat GPT has to say about this? I asked it.