Probably not. But someone who uses AI to their advantage might.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for decades. But over the past year, the adoption of AI has exploded – particularly in the work environment. Now, many are anxiously asking: “will AI take my job?!”

Is AI Taking Jobs?

The short answer is no.

The long answer? As it continues to evolve, AI will eventually reduce the need for certain types of work. But the biggest threat to individuals is less about AI taking jobs, and more about the risk of not embracing AI as an employee. The new breed of AI tools won’t necessarily ‘steal’ your job, but your level of AI skills and understanding could impact your employability.

Essentially, you could lose out on new roles and promotions to candidates with better AI, analytics, and digital skills.

So, what jobs will AI replace? And what can you do to safeguard your position? This blog looks a bit more about the new role of AI in the workplace, helping you to answer the question – will AI take my job?

The Robots Are Taking Over!

People have been panicking that machines and automation will replace them in the workplace for years. And in some ways, this has been correct. Before the Industrial Revolution, all labour was manual labour. But as the revolution gathered pace, new machines were being invented and introduced into factories and farms and everywhere in between. These inventions – from the ‘spinning jenny’ to steam engines – delivered an unprecedented growth in productivity and output of items. Manufacturers could produce more than ever, and this mechanisation replaced the traditional way of doing things – but it didn’t push people out of work.

Fast forward to the 1980s, and computers began to gain popularity in the workplace. People panicked that soon they would be replaced by robots. And as we know, they didn’t. PCs didn’t replace people; they just provided a more effective way to work.

All the introduction of new machines, technology and automation has done over the years has altered the way we do things. And on the whole, it has helped us do things better. AI, automation and technology has helped employees become more accurate, efficient, and connected.

So, What Jobs Will AI Replace?

Some jobs may be at risk due to AI. This doesn’t mean they will cease to exist, but there will be less of a demand for them. This could include Customer Service roles as chat bots and virtual assistants are able to handle more complex customer requests, or jobs that are admin intense, as AI enables increasing levels of automation.

But you shouldn’t see this as AI taking jobs, but creating new opportunities. For every job AI could replace, there are hundreds more roles that it will create – ones that don’t even exist yet. And building your AI skills early on is the best way of preparing for these changes.

We Shouldn’t Worry About AI, We Should Embrace It

You may be anxious about the thought of AI replacing jobs, but you don’t need to be. While it can automate processes and manage tasks for you, AI cannot replicate human unpredictability, intuition, experiences of emotion, and creativity. Instead, it aims to replicate human creativity through repurposing and recombining existing content and information, therefore it struggles to produce something truly new.

There are also a range of ethical considerations and concerns surrounding quality and plagiarism. AI-generated content needs to have the accuracy and reliability of the information it has pulled together. There are risks that content could be dated, biased, or simply contain errors, and only human intervention can assess this.

AI tools such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 also needs to receive clear, detailed, and easy-to-digest prompts. Without this clarity, you cannot guarantee the accuracy of the response. AI can certainly speed up processes in your everyday work life, helping with drafting documents, producing presentations, and summarising information, but it also needs to be checked, edited, and perfected by humans.

Are Businesses Really Ready for AI?

While it feels like AI is ‘everywhere’ at the moment, that might not be strictly true. A recent Cisco study found that while 97% of business leaders felt there was a pressure to develop an AI strategy, only 14% were ready to make that transition. It should be noted that respondents to that survey were all leading companies with 500 employees or more. AI readiness in smaller organisations is almost certainly significantly less. Readying a business for AI is also a complex process, and the majority of companies are likely years off being at the point of truly adopting AI.

Don’t Worry, The Robots Aren’t Replacing You

So, to conclude. Will robots take my job? Probably not. But you could get left behind if you don’t embrace AI and learn the digital skills you need to stay competitive. AI is already reshaping the way people work, and this is only the beginning. AI is offering all new ways to automate workloads and increase productivity, reducing the load of administrative tasks to free up more time for meaningful work and collaboration.

With new breakthroughs and greater accessibility, you simply cannot escape the conversation surrounding AI in 2024. And while AI may make some jobs a thing of the past, it will also create millions of new opportunities. If you’re interested in learning about the power of AI and how it can reshape productivity in your business, get in touch with a member of our team.