In the near future AI will be capable of doing almost every job. Nearly all white collar professions will be completely automated within the next five years.
Most blue-collar trades like plumbing and electricians, nursing, even jobs like dog walking are still relatively far from being automated effectively, although AI is steadily coming for them too.
However, that doesn’t mean every human will be replaced. There is still potential to make a mark in a world dominated by machines.
So what jobs will still exist in the distant future (5+ years)?
Musicians, Athletes, Gamers
AI has been able to defeat the top chess players for years, and music videos can be watched for free online. Yet people still gather to watch humans play chess, and attend live music performances. There will always be a demand to see humans compete and create. Although the competition for these remaining roles will be fierce, and fans likely won’t have much money to pay for tickets…
The same can be said for professional gamers. In the future there may be even more forms of entertainment where humans can compete. For example there will probably be entire VR worlds where thousands of people fight for a prize. The hungry masses will need to be kept distracted somehow.
“Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt.” – Juvenal
Streamers
Similar to musicians and athletes, only a incredibly small percentage can succeed in this industry. AI influencers are coming, and they will likely add even more competition. Look at Neuro-sama to see that many people are more than happy to watch an AI streamer, especially in certain niches like Vtubing.
However, if you can manage to build a strong community before AI takes over, then your viewers may stick around for a while. People are going to be increasingly starved of genuine human connection. Although they will have much less money to donate, and proving you’re actually a human will become increasingly difficult.
Mental Health Professionals
Empathy is unique to humans, therefore jobs requiring an understanding of human emotion can’t be replaced, right?
Well, in reality, AI has the potential to take these jobs as well. It already displays higher cognitive empathy in its responses than most human psychologists I’ve talked to.
General LLMs like ChatGPT are already capable of:
- Detecting emotion (i.e. sentiment) from text
- Displaying sympathy
- Providing targeted advice
They are also available 24/7, have infinite patience, and don’t charge you $100 an hour just to talk to them.
So imagine what will happen when a specialized psychologist AI is developed? I expect them to see massive adoption.
All that being said, there will still be many people who want the human element provided by psychologists and therapists, therefore I don’t see them ever going away completely. Although like everyone else their rates will suffer due to the increased competition.
There will also always be a demand for therapy because not all mental health problems can be fixed. So when an AI therapist can’t solve a problem people will still try human therapists out of desperation.
Teachers
Would you let a robot teach your kids? Young kids learning from robots probably isn’t great for their development. That’s why there will still be some demand for school teachers even though AI can theoretically take over their jobs. Not to mention teachers are currently also responsible for babysitting the kids, not just teaching them.
However, tutors will struggle as personalized AI teaching apps become more powerful. Why would you pay by the hour for a tutor when you can get one who works for you 24/7, explains every concept perfectly, and corrects all of your mistakes in real-time?
The safest jobs in this industry then, in my opinion, are jobs that involve teaching and interacting with young kids and children with disabilities.
Human Made Goods and Services
Just like some people still buy handmade goods today, there will likely still be a small market for human-made products in the future.
There will also be many people who are afraid of robots or just prefer to interact with a human, and this market can be catered to. Sure, a robot could technically cut your hair, but how many people would even want that? Therefore some jobs in the service industry that have human interaction won’t become completely automated, although they are going to suffer a lot.
Many people will be willing to pay extra just so they can have human companionship, so I predict there will always be some small demand for human service providers.
So focus on providing friendly customer service, and you can provide additional value to customers even if a robot is theoretically capable of replacing your job.
Sex Workers
Yes, sex bots are coming, but it’s going to take years before they’re somewhat realistic. We will have robots taking away all manual and intellectual labor long before we have sex bots with realistic skin, body parts, etc. Even then, a lot of people will still prefer human sex workers.
Therefore, the oldest profession isn’t going anywhere anytime soon due to AI. There will be increased competition from other humans as poverty rises; however, you could target specific niches like BDSM, massages, girlfriend experiences, etc. to gain an edge.
There are going to be a lot of lonely people in the future, so I think this profession will always be safe (unless it becomes criminalized).
Summary
In conclusion the jobs least likely to be completely replaced are those that either require humans like competitions, and hand made goods, or services where people are willing to pay a premium for human companionship.