Jobs that entail routine and rudimentary tasks that lack creative or critical thinking are at the highest risk of disappearing due to the increased adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).
That is according to South African technology expert and writer Arthur Goldstuck, who is also founder and managing director of market research firm World Wide Worx.
The recent hype around generative AI and the proliferation of AI-powered chatbots has many people concerned about job security.
The McKinsey Global Institute estimated that roughly 30% of the world’s jobs will be eliminated due to automation by 2030, including through AI adoption.
The World Economic Forum has predicted that 85 million jobs will be lost to AI and robotics in 2025, but 97 million new roles will be created in areas like AI development, data science, and human-AI collaboration.
Goldstuck told MyBroadband the reality was that automation was continuously making jobs redundant, but AI was accelerating this process by applying it in a cost-effective, easily accessible framework.
“Because AI can process large volumes of routine tasks with high accuracy and low error rates, it makes many routine roles vulnerable,” he said.
Goldstuck said the message that AI evangelists preached about these capabilities liberating people from mundane tasks and pushing them toward roles that require creativity and critical thinking, or human interaction, was a con.
“Very few people in the mundane roles have the labour mobility to move into creative roles or ones that require critical thinking.”
However, there are some jobs that will benefit from AI augmentation. Goldstuck explained whether AI replacement or augmentation will apply depends on the specific responsibilities of that role.
“Take financial service providers,” Goldstuck explained. “A bookkeeper is a dead role walking and has been ever since online accounting packages became user-friendly.”
“An accountant, on the other hand, is able to provide valuable guidance and powerful support for business owners and executives.”
“AI will augment this support dramatically by cutting down on time needed to analyse data and highlighting anomalies or opportunities.”
Another example is the field of communications and specifically, public relations.
“PR writing of the traditional kind can be entirely replaced by AI,” Goldstuck said. “Have you seen DeepSeek take on a smartphone spec sheet from a PDF or PowerPoint presentation?”
“However, quality press releases and strategic communication need the careful touch of a skilled public relations or communications professional.”
“Many PR agencies will jump at the chance to cut costs, but will become mediocre organisations in the process.”
Speaking from personal experience as a writer and researcher, Goldstuck said that AI has augmented several of his own roles to a level he never have imagined just five years ago.
Most AI-resistant jobs
According to Goldstuck, the jobs that will certainly continue to require humans in the near future are those that involve a high degree of emotional intelligence, creativity, or complex decision-making.
“Teachers, psychologists, artists, and healthcare workers like nurses and surgeons won’t only be in demand, but will be needed more than ever before,” he said.
“AI will augment them, but the human touch can’t be replicated by machines — at least not yet.”
Goldstuck also said that jobs in so-called “basic” trades like plumbing or electrical work would remain stable.
“It’s hard to see AI making house calls for the foreseeable future. They symbolise hands-on, real-world problem-solving that AI can’t physically perform.
Although some might argue that the integration of improved AI in robotics could soon also threaten these jobs, tradesmen often have to work on highly complex jobs that require improvisation.
In some instances, like when working on electricity or gas, for example, safety issues are also at play.
It would likely be many years before proper government and industry frameworks are in place to support robots doing jobs that have legal complexities requiring professionally trained personnel, even after AI-powered robots become capable of adapting to the scenario at hand.
Arthur Goldstuck, World Wide Worx MD.
This article is from MyBroadband.
