Jobs AI Just Can’t Do

My previous post of 11/22/23 – Occupations Impacted By AI In 2024 – may have cast a foreboding mood on you. That wasn’t the intent, as any and every occupation that comes in contact with AI will be somewhat changed. The key is, much of that change has the potential to be astonishingly good, if AI is used right.

Today we’ll look at occupations that will be difficult for AI to damage or replace, ones that could put huge points on the board if they use AI judiciously. Here’s a modest list, by no means complete, but full of promise. This is due to their exclusive humaneness, uniqueness, need for human judgment, creativity, diversified thought, humor, and empathy.

Leadership

Leadership roles require vision before anything else. AI hasn’t got it, nor can it get it or even help with it. Strategic thinking, decision-making, the ability to motivate, inspire, and build teams, and the development of ethical systems are areas of strength where AI still has limitations it may never shed.

Creative Professions

Jobs in the arts, such as musicians, writers, painters, and other creatives in advertising for instance, rely heavily on human creativity, emotion, and subjective interpretation, making them less susceptible to automation. AI can try to take over our left-brain functions, but as for our right brain, that will always be ours.

Creative Problem-Solving

Many problems can be solved with left-brain, linear thinking. Those are not the ones that change civilization, though. Professions that involve solving novel and complex problems – or tantalizing opportunities – require creativity, critical thinking, holistic thinking, pattern recognition, and adaptability. AI can assist in data analysis and decision support, but it totally lacks the ability to generate truly innovative revelations.

Health Care

Doctors, nurses, surgeons, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other healthcare workers combine medical knowledge, clinical judgment, empathy, and human touch, including sensible hunches. While AI can assist in and enrich diagnostics and treatment recommendations, it can’t replace the human aspect of healthcare. No way.

Research and Development

Scientific research and its subsequent innovation always involve exploring the unknown, curiosity, formulating hypotheses and hunches, and constant experimentation, all of which rely on human creativity and insight and a faith that somewhere down the line is an innovation we may not be able to see right now. Anyone know an AI system that works like that?

Therapists and Counselors

Providing emotional support, therapy, counseling, and skilled creative problem solving – not to mention dedication above and beyond the call of duty – requires deep empathy, human connection, and understanding of complex emotional nuances. No chance for AI here.

Social Work

Social workers deal with diverse, unpredictable, and often sudden human situations that require a high degree of emotional intelligence, adaptability, and ethical judgment will find AI a useful tool but never a threat.

Caregivers for the Elderly and Disabled

As our population ages, new and uncharted needs will arise. Providing care to larger number of individuals with unique needs, including companionship and assistance with daily tasks, requires empathy, patience, and adaptability that AI currently can’t provide. This is one area, though, where AI will be a valuable tool.

Teaching and Education

While AI can vastly enhance education through personalized learning, coaching, automated grading, effective teaching that extends beyond the classroom or the calendar, often involves building relationships with students, understanding their unique needs, and providing mentorship and guidance. AI can’t score a single run in this game.

Skilled Trades

Jobs like electricians, plumbers, and craftsmen involve hands-on skills, adaptability to diverse situations, the ability to imagine complex systems and to detect what’s going on in current systems, are challenging for AI to approach.

One more thing…

Humans – or at least, those of us who have faith in our ability to continue moving humanity forward and upward – have one other thing that AI doesn’t: confidence.