Over the past few years, advancements such as the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) have become prominent in various industries across the globe. While the world has been following traditional ways of doing business, the launch of AI tools still has the potential to drastically change how we work and which jobs will remain in high demand — or be axed.

Various industries are sure to be disrupted, and there are plenty of considerations for employees of all job types to consider. Some notable statistics on AI usage have proliferated, and I find these useful in assessing the trends:

• As of May 2023, 3,900 jobs in the U.S. have been linked to AI. 
• Since 1980, early automation has declined wages by 70%.
• About 14% of workers claim to have lost their jobs due to “robots.”
• A stunning 81.6% of digital marketing professionals believe most AI tools will replace content writers and copywriters first.
• With AI being more knowledgeable and eventually more precise, automation may also impact various white-collar employees.

Here are the five jobs ChatGPT suggested to me could be on the chopping block, thanks to the rise of AI. Let’s dive into each.

Customer Service Agents and Representatives

It wouldn’t be a shocker if the first job to be replaced by AI is customer support representatives and agents since AI is the future of customer service.

Many customer support agents are now being replaced not only but AI but also by various integrated automations. In fact, this job position already has chatbots in many places that assist customers more efficiently on business websites, and that is a trend likely to continue.

But I don’t think replacement is the word for the case of customer service agents. While big companies like Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) believe that AI can replace plenty of jobs soon, customer service jobs may be integrated more into AI automation but not entirely replaced by it.

With AI, customer support representatives will be able to provide better service to customers. Automating tasks with more self-service options will help one of the biggest problems in the customer service industry: inefficiency and burnout among its employees.

According to statistics, working in customer service can be stressful, so much so that employees have up to an impressive 45% resignation rate annually. That has led to a shortage of workforce and additional costs to find and hire new people. 

Thus, like other sectors AI will likely impact, it’s not an entirely black-and-white story in the customer service space.

Copywriters and Journalists

As mentioned in the earlier parts of this article, most AI tools — especially ChatGPT — were first made for content writing purposes. One of the few popular prompts these tools featured is writing short stories, checking for grammar errors, creating content briefs and generating email campaigns. The rise of AI technology may have shocked a lot of people, but writers and journalists have reason to be on edge.

However, just like is the case with customer service agents, AI tools don’t show empathy, and human connection is also crucial in writing and journalism. AI tools not prompted with customization will still end up sounding robotic and generic, boring online readers.

According to Google (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL), AI tools should not impose threats to writers and journalists. Instead, these tools enable and help them explore ideas and do valuable research. Google said the goal is to enhance the work and productivity of writers and journalists, similar to assistive tools like grammar and plagiarism checkers.

AI applications within the content development industry will remain a touchy subject, and different outfits will continue to regulate this technology accordingly. How this industry develops from here will certainly be intriguing to watch for me personally, as this is what I do. Gulp.

IT Professionals

ChatGPT is well-known for its information-related capabilities, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to see IT professionals on this list.

ChatGPT can efficiently create basic to complex codes and correct errors made by IT professionals. Thus, certain IT-related jobs such as developers, coders, programmers and data scientists are also at risk of losing their jobs due to AI. 

Tech Pro Research conducted a survey with 534 respondents. Roughly 34% of the respondents admitted they were scared that AI could replace them, a rather high percentage by all accounts. Additionally, when respondents were asked if they think AI is beneficial for business, the same number of respondents participated, and a staggering 63% agreed businesses need AI.

It’s evident how AI has been rapidly evolving and has been advancing technology in many sectors, including IT. That’s why a lot of IT professionals also share the fear of being replaced by robots and the systems they make. 

Big tech companies like OpenAI also plan to replace their software engineers with AI. But, according to Columbia Business School Professor Oded Netzer, AI can help coders make coding more efficient, rather than replacing the workers. Netzer shared with CBS MoneyWatch that the AI tools will serve as an enhancer rather than a full replacer of jobs.

Market Research Analysts 

The market research sector is one of the most affected sectors of AI. In recent years, it has grown abundantly and AI has been instrumental in the boon. However, AI also brings new challenges and limitations that require careful and ethical management — largely by humans.

ChatGPT is prominent for marketing research and analysis because of its capability to analyze and predict data outcomes. According to Mark Muro, a senior at the Brookings Institute who studied the impact of AI on the American workforce, market research analysts may be at risk of losing their jobs in the industry due to AI-driven advancements.

While market research analysts’ job is to collect data and identify trends from said data, ChatGPT can do the same thing. In fact, the tool allows users to see different market sentiment patterns and predict possible market outcomes of a specific movement or the market as a whole. 

That is an area where human judgment relative to computer-generated strategies will need to be compared and contrasted. There will still be a need for some amount of human judgment to assess the output from AI-generated models. But this is certainly a sector worth paying attention to over the coming years.

Graphic Designers

Lastly, graphic designers are among the most threatened professionals by AI. Aside from ChatGPT, many AI-based image and video editors in the market are accessible to everyone. Nowadays, an average individual can now create and edit professional-looking photos to their liking.

According to McKinsey, 56% of its respondents to its study of AI adoption admitted they use AI. In fact, big companies like Nutella have already tried AI tools to design over seven million unique labels for its Italian campaign. 

A graphic designer’s main skill is to create images that can draw attention to users and, at the same time, give value through their work for businesses. Although AI tools like Figma or Adobe can easily create images through customized prompts, graphic designing also needs personalization.

It can be hard to prompt AI for something truly specific. Graphic designers often meet with clients to discuss needs, wants and goals for their businesses. While some keywords can be prompted on AI, the sense of personalization and human touch is still lacking.

Bottom Line

While AI tools like ChatGPT may threaten many jobs in the aforementioned sectors, one thing is for sure — a human workforce is still vital to any industry. Instead of seeing AI technology as a risk, people should use AI tools to increase efficiency, creating a greater demand for employees who know how to utilize the technology

Thus, now may be a good time to brush up on one’s ability to use such AI applications.