6 Jobs That Could Be Replaced By AI And Robots

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just fiction. It is everywhere in today’s world, ranging from the virtual assistants on our smartphones to the self-driving cars in development. For years, it was thought that computers would never be more powerful than the human brain. But as development has accelerated in modern times, AI systems are now able to perform certain tasks much faster and more efficiently than human. Jobs that involve mainly repetitive activities are likely to be replaced by AI and robots in the next two decades. The following are 6 examples of jobs that could be replaced by AI and robots.

1. Drivers
   Google, Tesla, Uber and many car companies are all investing billions of dollars in driverless vehicles. They are racing to be first with a viable driverless vehicle. Once cars and trucks can drive themselves, there is less need for professional human drivers to sit behind the wheel.
   
   Vivek Wadhwa, the author of “The Driver in the Driverless Car,” estimates that close to 5 million driving jobs will be lost in the early 2020s, as vehicles achieve full autonomy. Human drivers might need to reskill to new jobs, such as managers who oversee the fleets of vehicles.
   
   
2. Chefs
   Robot chefs and automated kitchens had come to reality recently. Spyce is the world’s first restaurant featuring a robotic kitchen that cooks complex meals. It was opened to the public a few months ago in Boston. The restaurant employs a series of seven automated cooking woks in place of human chefs. These robots are designed to simultaneously prepare food in three minutes or less. The founder claimed that the robotic kitchen offers better efficiency and lower operation cost compared to ordinary restaurants with human chefs.
   
   
3. Telemarketers
   A lot of telemarketers are often speaking according to a script over and over again. Nowadays, Chatbots are getting smarter to take over the role of telemarketers. When customers ask a question or open up a line of communication, chatbot technology can come up with a pre-programmed script that seems to best match query with a response. With the development of AI and natural language processing, AI chatbots can even understand everyday speech, learn language from previous interactions and talk like a human. One example of such question answering machine is IBM Watson, which is helping IBM to sell other Watson to other companies.
   
   
4. Customer Supports
   Many customers reach out to service providers to address basic technical issues or concerns, but lack of the patience to wait for customer supports to become available. Organizations are often challenged to reduce the period that customers are on hold. AI chatbots can improve the efficiency of customer supports by being constantly available and able to serve many customers simultaneously.  It can also find the right support information needed to solve issues facing the customers quickly. The demand for human customer supports will be minimized.
   
   
5. Financial Analysts
   When it comes to financial analysis there are two broad approaches: collect and aggregate enormous amounts of diverse information or develop mathematical models that can analyze and predict outcomes from relatively simple data sets. Computers can spot correlations and patterns of data more quickly than human analysts and make trades faster. Less chance of fraud will also happen with computers. With billions of dollars (or more) at stake, no wonder AI is becoming more common in the financial sector.
   
   
6. Construction Workers
   Robots can work nonstop without getting tired. Physically taxing manual labor jobs such as bricklaying on construction sites, that once required humans can now be carried out by robots. Current robots are good at doing simple, repetitive tasks. They can complete their tasks more efficiently and quickly than human workers.
   
   To further automate construction works, a number of AI-powered systems are currently in development. These include a mobile construction worker, as well as a mobile 3D-printer. Both of them are capable of adjusting to their immediate environment. As construction projects become increasingly more complex, robots and AI software will make it easier to keep projects on schedule and within budget by improving human efficiency and productivity.These jobs that are likely to be replaced by AI and robots share common underlying elements. These include repetitiveness, a high focus on manual efforts compared to thought process and intelligence, and perhaps most importantly, the ability for machines to replicate the processes necessary to perform these jobs effectively.

   Jobs that require human interaction and critical, empathetic thinking are still unlikely to be replaced by AI and robots in the foreseeable future. New job opportunities such as managing automatic software programs will be created by AI and automation. Humans need a skill change and take up more strategic roles that require more critical thinking. Have you prepared yourself to embrace the rise of AI yet?