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[Trilobit]

So I've been reading some experiences from people who have been made mostly redundant by AI and it feels like a bloodbath. The thought that this is coming to a greater number of professions feels almost apocalyptic. Things seem to move so rapidly that once you've schooled yourself for another type of work, it too will have been usurped by roboids.

From a copywriter:

I'm a copywriter by trade. These days I do very little. The market for my services is drying up rapidly and I'm not the only one who is feeling it. I've spoken to many copywriters who have noticed a drop in their work or clients who are writing with ChatGPT and asking copywriters to simply edit it.

I have clients who ask me to use AI wherever I can and to let them know how long it takes. It takes me less time and that means less money.

Some copywriters have just given up on the profession altogether.

I have been working with AI for a while. I teach people how to use it. What I notice is a move towards becoming an operator.

I craft prompts, edit through prompts and add my skills along the way (I feel my copywriting skills mean I can prompt and analyse output better than a non-writer). But writing like this doesn't feel like it used to. I don't go through the full creative process. I don't do the hard work that makes me feel alive afterwards. It's different, more clinical and much less rewarding.

I don't want to be a skilled operator. I want to be a human copywriter. Yet, I think these days are numbered.

The thing is that once you annihilate lower positions, you also destroy the ladders young people previously used to climb in ranks. AI seems to be exceptionally poised to pounce on certain positions, like the one quoted, but I can't see it stopping with anything except for the very elite positions. And exactly what will the rest of the unemployed do? Become carpenters or plumbers? Well, there's also a limit to those types of openings.

Interesting and scary times.

Plenty more stories here:
https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/i-was-forced-to-use-ai-until-the?r=n1p8t
https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/s/ai-killed-my-job

 

[Poppinfresh]

Learn a trade.

Seriously, if I were a high school student today, I wouldn't even be thinking about college. I'd be looking into trade schools.

Same if I were an unemployable recent college graduate. I'd be looking to transition into the trades.

This should have been happening a long time before now. As someone in my mid/late 40s, my college degree had zero bearing on my ability to make a living and retire early. I would have been in an even better position had I skipped college altogether.

 

[Aesius]

I'm a copywriter and surprisingly have more work than ever right now. I also use ChatGPT daily, but only to generate the bland, informative copy in otherwise dense pages or to generate ideas that I can refine and tweak. Also, a lot of what I do involves reading creative briefs/client requests and making highly specific changes, tweaks, edits, rewrites, etc., that aren't something you can easily feed into an LLM and get a usable result.

But, I also know that the industry is going to shrink significantly in the coming years, and LLMs are only going to get better. I'm upskilling at the moment but considering doing something else entirely. It sucks to have to change because while it's not a super highly paid profession, I've enjoyed it and the lifestyle it provides (I've worked from home since 2014, and before that worked in cool, cushy ad agencies).

 

[SJRB]

It's not like they could've seen this coming at least half a decade ago and plan/act accordingly.

Nah man, just ride the waves and hope for the best.

 

[kruis]

The thing is that once you annihilate lower positions, you also destroy the ladders young people previously used to climb in ranks. AI seems to be exceptionally poised to pounce on certain positions, like the one quoted, but I can't see it stopping with anything except for the very elite positions. And exactly what will the rest of the unemployed do? Become carpenters or plumbers? Well, there's also a limit to those types of openings.

This is very worrying. We need skilled humans to supervise the output of AI, but if AI pulls up the career ladder for newcomers there'll be no experts left in 20 years and no one to succeed them. And then what?

 

[IDKFA]

Learn a trade.

Seriously, if I were a high school student today, I wouldn't even be thinking about college. I'd be looking into trade schools.

Same if I were an unemployable recent college graduate. I'd be looking to transition into the trades.

This should have been happening a long time before now. As someone in my mid/late 40s, my college degree had zero bearing on my ability to make a living and retire early. I would have been in an even better position had I skipped college altogether.

This, or any other job that AI can't do.

College, or university as we call it in the UK, can still offer careers that are AI proof.

My son wants to go to university next and train to be a sports physiotherapist, which is a job that is AI proof.

You also have medical professions, sciences etc that need higher education, but are also AI proof.

 

[TheUnicornGuy]

Movable type killed my job.
Production lines killed my job.
Computers killed my job.
The Internet killed my job.
AI killed my job.

Apart from the ones that were smart enough to adapt and use the new technology to their advantage.

 

[StueyDuck]

Honestly... the problem is less AI and more the sleazy snake oil salesmen that are convincing CEOs and ShareHolders that you can literally replace everyone with AI.

I cant tell you the number of integration meetings we've had this year with these "AI consulting firms" that C-Suite keep getting hounded by and literally all any of them can say to market themselves is "you can get rid of most your workforce".

And then when you ask them how their ai is gonna help the product besides firing people its just crickets...

Its literally the heads of companies being sold snake oil more than it is literally the AI doing all the jobs so proficiently that workers are no longer needed

 

[Nocty]

Movable type killed my job.
Production lines killed my job.
Computers killed my job.
The Internet killed my job.
AI killed my job.

Apart from the ones that were smart enough to adapt and use the new technology to their advantage.

this is true but unfrotunately 'this time' it really is the end game, because the only jobs AI cant do now and or will be able to do soon enough is physical labour, and even that is at the mercy of advancement in robotics which is going to be here soon enough too.

This is very likely the beginings of the worst economic crash in human history with dire geopolitical consequences.

 

[Zathalus]

Learn a trade.

Seriously, if I were a high school student today, I wouldn't even be thinking about college. I'd be looking into trade schools.

Same if I were an unemployable recent college graduate. I'd be looking to transition into the trades.

This should have been happening a long time before now. As someone in my mid/late 40s, my college degree had zero bearing on my ability to make a living and retire early. I would have been in an even better position had I skipped college altogether.

This, or any other job that AI can't do.

College, or university as we call it in the UK, can still offer careers that are AI proof.

My son wants to go to university next and train to be a sports physiotherapist, which is a job that is AI proof.

You also have medical professions, sciences etc that need higher education, but are also AI proof.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Get a business degree. It's so versatile what path you can take there's always jobs. every company needs business grads in the various departments. Unless you really want to pigeon hole yourself into certain career fields like "I got to get into advertising industry only", there's always tons of jobs. Every company and gov needs business people.

In university, my original interest was marketing and advertising since I was watching Melrose Place. Pretty gay huh? But turns out I liked economics and finance courses by the end of it. My first job was doing inventory control, then I did finance as a career which I like. I didnt even specialize as a finance major. I actually specialized in marketing. Had some interviews as an Assistant Buyer at ad agencies downtown (Ogilvy & Mather and I think BBDO), never got them. But got a job doing inventory at a big company. Was ok. But paid better which was a blessing. Paid $40k. Those Assistant Buyer jobs were like $28-30k. Then got finance job at the next company and liked it more than I thought since it's not boring Net Present Value boring textbook shit like university.

ERP programs and AI can churn out as much reports or canned analysis or charts it wants. But people are still needed to verify and analyze the info. There's so many nuances when making a business decision, it's impossible to type a bunch of inputs into ChatGPT and listen to its results as concrete when AI search tools cant even get search results right. You see errors all the time. So for a company to trust a Terminator AI to be all or nothing with millions or billions of bucks on the line will never be fully controlled by AI. A lot of jobs are relationship based too where certain job roles are still old school "meet and greet" and each side rings off a bunch of questions to each other in an hour long meeting. You dont do this shit with AI controlling each side like it's the movie Wargames.

 

[StereoVsn]

Yep, the whole "get a trade argument" fails in two ways.

One is advances in robotics that are going to start taking trade jobs sooner or later. Don't forget a lot of "trade companies" like HVAC, Plumbing and so on are being bought out by Private Equity. They will love as soon as they can.

The second issue is that you need to get paid for your trade. If AI eviscerates middle class (up to professional level) who is going to hire all these trade people?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Yep, the whole "get a trade argument" fails in two ways.

One is advances in robotics that are going to start taking trade jobs sooner or later. Don't forget a lot of "trade companies" like HVAC, Plumbing and so on are being bought out by Private Equity. They will love as soon as they can.

The second issue is that you need to get paid for your trade. If AI eviscerates middle class (up to professional level) who is going to hire all these trade people?

Unless someone can invent Terminator robots to walk into my house, go up and down my stairs and figure out how to fix my leaky pipes, replace a crusty jammed in A-coil, or replace my water tank and redo the surrounding piping since it was a totally different brand and size (all true and done the past 3 years), I dont think any of these trades guy have anything to worry about.

 

[KyoZz]

Unless someone can invent Terminator robots to walk into my house, go up and down my stairs and figure out how to fix my leaky pipes, replace a crusty jammed in A-coil, or replace my water tank and redo the surrounding piping since it was a totally different brand and size (all true and done the past 3 years), I dont think any of these trades guy have anything to worry about.

Wait a few years. If I had told you in 2005 that in 20 years we would deal with deepfakes, generative AI, have electric cars in the hands of the general public etc... you would have looked at me strangely. Yet here we are, and this will only evolve faster and faster.

Who knows where is the limit.

 

[Ishma3L]

Wait a few years. If I had told you in 2005 that in 20 years we would deal with deepfakes, generative AI, have electric cars in the hands of the general public etc... you would have looked at me strangely. Yet here we are, and this will only evolve faster and faster.

Who knows where is the limit.

Dr. Manhattan would know.

 

[StereoVsn]

Wait a few years. If I had told you in 2005 that in 20 years we would deal with deepfakes, generative AI, have electric cars in the hands of the general public etc... you would have looked at me strangely. Yet here we are, and this will only evolve faster and faster.

Who knows where is the limit.

Yep, and what you are going to see go first would be the apprentice and low level job with an experienced contractor controlling robots. IMO, of course, and it will take around 10-15 years.

 

[YCoCg]

this is true but unfrotunately 'this time' it really is the end game, because the only jobs AI cant do now and or will be able to do soon enough is physical labour, and even that is at the mercy of advancement in robotics which is going to be here soon enough too.

This is very likely the beginings of the worst economic crash in human history with dire geopolitical consequences.

And as humanity enters another great depression, we'll all gather round the fires and say "it was worth it for the memes tho'

 

[nkarafo]

One is advances in robotics that are going to start taking trade jobs sooner or later.

This is not going to happen in our lifetime.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

This is not going to happen in our lifetime.

Before covid, there were articles AI driven 18 wheelers were going to put truckers out of a job. All these trucks were suppose to self pilot and dock and also handle any admin work with the shipping workers at every warehouse. Still waiting.

If there's one thing about tech, somehow it has a good way of getting people hyped up huge things are going to happen.

It's like when everything was going to go into the apocalypse when the year struck 2000 and every piece of electronics and software was going to bork out because supposedly things werent coded to be year 2000 compliant. So that means shut down. And means the end of good living as nothing works right anymore.

I dont know about you guys, buy everything I had worked as normal and life didnt change one bit for me.

 

[StereoVsn]

Before covid, there were articles AI driven 18 wheelers were going to put truckers out of a job. Still waiting.

If there's one thing about tech, somehow it has a good way of getting people hyped up huge things are going to happen.

It's like when everything was going to go into the apocalypse when the year struck 2000 and every piece of electronics and software was going to bork out because supposedly things werent coded to be year 2000 compliant. So that means shut down. And means the end of good living as nothing works right anymore.

I dot know about you guys, buy everything I had worked as normal and life didnt change one bit for me.

Interestingly enough several companies are indeed going to have driverless trucks next year.

They were already testing this year but with safety drivers. I think within a few years and dependent on regulation, we will start seeing more and more.

For example I recently have been in SF and Waymo driverless taxis were everywhere.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Interestingly enough several companies are indeed going to have driverless trucks next year.

They were already testing this year but with safety drivers. I think within a few years and dependent on regulation, we will start seeing more and more.

For example I recently have been in SF and Waymo driverless taxis were everywhere.

Fair point. Maybe for big companies who can afford AI trucks and all admin work is automated. And the companies they work with are all into AI too so both sides have AI workers to guide the trucks.

But what about companies that cant afford AI trucks and the places they pick up and drop off are more old school with paper copies needing signatures? If a shipping bay worker unloads skids and sees a bad one he turns back, how does the trucking company account for that?

How would AI account for most efficient loading of trucks? Lets say AI does a pick up. How does it know how to tell the warehouse guys loading the truck to put the skids in a certain order or side due to logistics or weight?

How does AI work if it pulls up to the dock, its order isnt ready yet, so the dock worker wants to tell it to move and let another one get their order, and come back in 20 minutes? Or, there's a delay at shipping bay 20. But if the AI truck wants the order now, pull out and change into bay 28 and a dock guy will load it there.

What if there's a major shipping lot delay and there's tons of trucks backed up and some even have to park on the street. The AI truck is 5th in line. Dont even bother trying to enter the shipping lot. So wait in the street for a couple hours, and 5 trucks later, then come by. How does the warehouse and AI interact to solve that? Or is the AI truck going to be dumb and try to keep entering the lot?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

The widespread advice telling displaced white-collar workers to flood into blue-collar trades just shows how utterly cooked we are

 

[KyoZz]

Dr. Manhattan would know.

I perceive time as a simultaneous whole and I have experienced the moment your pipes are repaired by articulated alloy limbs, without complaint or overtime charges.
I have also experienced the moment a human plumber arrives, sighs, and quotes triple the price.
Both are particles rearranging.

I have foreseen this conversation and I know the precise moment the last human plumber will set down his wrench. It occurs on a Tuesday in REDACTED.
Your leak is… insignificant, good news is your water tank is already fixed in several futures, you're welcome.

I return now to Mars, the view is better

 

[T-0800]

Honestly... the problem is less AI and more the sleazy snake oil salesmen that are convincing CEOs and ShareHolders that you can literally replace everyone with AI.

I cant tell you the number of integration meetings we've had this year with these "AI consulting firms" that C-Suite keep getting hounded by and literally all any of them can say to market themselves is "you can get rid of most your workforce".

And then when you ask them how their ai is gonna help the product besides firing people its just crickets...

Its literally the heads of companies being sold snake oil more than it is literally the AI doing all the jobs so proficiently that workers are no longer needed

I started my first job in 1990 and the big next thing was paperless offices. Still using paper.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I started my first job in 1990 and the big next thing was paperless offices. Still using paper.

Tech cant even get front door access right.

Scan key card --> Scan small keyfob you can attach to your car keys --> Scan your cellphone after downloading an app.

My company went back to using keyfobs. Cellphone app pain in the ass and didnt work for some people. Also, if someone forgot their phone at home they cant get in unless they call someone from the lobby phone or knock the glass door like a loser. Nobody is going to forget their car keys.

 

[Haint]

The widespread advice telling displaced white-collar workers to flood into blue-collar trades just shows how utterly cooked we are

Non-union trades are low paid for a reason, there's basically no barrier of entry, pretty much any able bodied guy can do the jobs adequately after a single demonstration. The primary challenge and limiter of a trades business is getting guys who actually show up every day, or don't show up drunk or drugged out. It's just much more uncomfortable, physically demanding, and hazardous than white collar work and accordingly much less desired.

Obviously if too many people try to go into (or are forced into) trades there'll be a glut of competition and wages will be depressed into the dirt for everyone involved. There's simply not enough trade work for the AI displaced and College averted youth, quadruplely so in the hypothetical "AI Apocalypse" economy. Nobody's going to be building shit in a great depression, construction ground to a halt in '08/09.

 

[IDKFA]

That's a little different to AI.

If robots and AI get to the point where they can do every job a human can, then we're truly fucked.

If AI and robotics can do all jobs, as well as create art, then humanity has no purpose. I don't think people would allow it to get that far.

 

[Trilobit]

Movable type killed my job.
Production lines killed my job.
Computers killed my job.
The Internet killed my job.
AI killed my job.

Apart from the ones that were smart enough to adapt and use the new technology to their advantage.

The previous entries were infrastructural and tool-based. It would be the same if AI was used as a tool, but if it starts replacing human intelligence then it's a different ballgame.

This is not going to happen in our lifetime.

I don't know. I'm 35 and in my earlier years robotics were basically a joke. We all laughed at the dog robot and the humanoid one with a huge backpack connected to a thick wire. And now it's something else completely.

Interestingly enough several companies are indeed going to have driverless trucks next year.

They were already testing this year but with safety drivers. I think within a few years and dependent on regulation, we will start seeing more and more.

For example I recently have been in SF and Waymo driverless taxis were everywhere.

People say that there will always be companies that have more specialized needs and need human thinking in getting to the right dock on some shitty roads. Yes, that's true. But if 20-40% of truck jobs can be automated then that means a fierce competition for the rest of the positions. It's not all or nothing, it's parts of the cakes eaten up, leaving much less for the rest.

 

[JimmyRustler]

The widespread advice telling displaced white-collar workers to flood into blue-collar trades just shows how utterly cooked we are

I'm still waiting for a good explanation on how all these evil companies that replace workers with AI intend to sell products when no one has money to buy them any more.

 

[Zathalus]

That's a little different to AI.

If robots and AI get to the point where they can do every job a human can, then we're truly fucked.

If AI and robotics can do all jobs, as well as create art, then humanity has no purpose. I don't think people would allow it to get that far.

That's the thing. Somebody entering college or the workforce now has no AI proof jobs. Who knows what robots can do in twenty years time. The issues that plagued robotics in the past are rapidly getting solved.

And yes, if robots and AI can do the majority of what humans can then we have a problem on our hands. Not sure what the solution is, but putting the genie back in the bottle has never worked.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

I'm still waiting for a good explanation on how all these evil companies that replace workers with AI intend to sell products when no one has money to buy them any more.

It just doesn't make any sense, in any way. No one likes interacting with AI. Who is telling the AI what to do? Who is checking the work - it still gets things wrong, constantly, even the newer models. It has no memory and context, and it doesn't really know anything. I've never seen it be very good at anything, other than sort of speeding up some coding tasks. It doesn't learn how to get better at anything.

If you got rid of it, right now, and never used it again, things would probably just be better in all ways. I don't even see the downside to getting rid of AI - would I miss some coding help sometimes? Maybe, but i'd still get by just fine, and probably enjoy things more - and I struggle to see the upside of any of this other than science fiction wishes of an eventual rapture of the nerds singularity which will never happen.

 

[IDKFA]

That's the thing. Somebody entering college or the workforce now has no AI proof jobs. Who knows what robots can do in twenty years time. The issues that plagued robotics in the past are rapidly getting solved.

And yes, if robots and AI can do the majority of what humans can then we have a problem on our hands. Not sure what the solution is, but putting the genie back in the bottle has never worked.

I think we would see mass civil unrest (which would be put down by robotic police forces)

 

[Trilobit]

It just doesn't make any sense, in any way. No one likes interacting with AI. Who is telling the AI what to do? Who is checking the work - it still gets things wrong, constantly, even the newer models. It has no memory and context, and it doesn't really know anything. I've never seen it be very good at anything, other than sort of speeding up some coding tasks. It doesn't learn how to get better at anything.

What's even weirder is that many companies use their employees' finished work to train it on and then they fire them. But the AI won't itself learn new things, so won't it eventually stagnate, as it doesn't have humans to feed on?

I think we would see mass civil unrest (which would be put down by robotic police forces)

At least having AI robots hunting us down would make them exciting, rather than just RAM devourers.

 

[JimmyRustler]

It just doesn't make any sense, in any way. No one likes interacting with AI. Who is telling the AI what to do? Who is checking the work - it still gets things wrong, constantly, even the newer models. It has no memory and context, and it doesn't really know anything. I've never seen it be very good at anything, other than sort of speeding up some coding tasks. It doesn't learn how to get better at anything.

If you got rid of it, right now, and never used it again, things would probably just be better in all ways. I don't even see the downside to getting rid of AI - would I miss some coding help sometimes? Maybe, but i'd still get by just fine, and probably enjoy things more - and I struggle to see the upside of any of this other than science fiction wishes of an eventual rapture of the nerds singularity which will never happen.

What I think will happen is that AI will gradually find its way in our worklife and life in general and simply end up assisting everyone. I don't think a lot of people will be replaced. It doesn't make any sense. Again, most products need consumers. Consumers need money and for that they need jobs. No jobs, no money, no products. And many companies are already struggling.

And I did notice the downside of AI too the other day when I tried to configure my new TV. It doesn't know everything but it always gives you an answer. Like, no matter how often I explained to ChatGPT that I don't have the menu its describing, it did not get it but just kept giving me wrong answers. Unlike humans it will never say like "hold on, let me check with someone who knows better". I'm not sure how they ever want to fix this. Hence, when all the dust settles, AI will just end up being a tool to assist us.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

That's the thing. Somebody entering college or the workforce now has no AI proof jobs. Who knows what robots can do in twenty years time. The issues that plagued robotics in the past are rapidly getting solved.

And yes, if robots and AI can do the majority of what humans can then we have a problem on our hands. Not sure what the solution is, but putting the genie back in the bottle has never worked.

I feel like since the genie, right now, sucks and is an asshole, I dunno, maybe it's like VR and NFTs and 3D movies, where it's fine in certain circumstances, but it's also shit at a lot, so whatever, getting back in the bottle, at least part way, isn't impossible.

I'd love to hear from someone, anyone, or any company that said AI made everything better. It's not making anyone's life better at the moment. It's making things worse, its unreliable, its consolidating knowledge sources into the hands of the few who can meddle with it, it's making people poorer, the economy unstable, and the upsides that AI companies tell you about are about making everyone poorer and everyone losing their jobs. What do we lose out on if it disappeared? I think we gain more than we lose.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I'm still waiting for a good explanation on how all these evil companies that replace workers with AI intend to sell products when no one has money to buy them any more.

These companies make braindead decisions just to improve quarterly results. I doubt they're thinking that far ahead.

 

[winjer]

AI is creating a lot more problems than what it's worth for humankind.

 

[Bojji]

AI is creating a lot more problems than what it's worth for humankind.

But CEOs are happy because it promises to cut jobs!

 

[JimmyRustler]

These companies make braindead decisions just to improve quarterly results. I doubt they're thinking that far ahead.

Well the I guess you loose nothing if you get laid off from one of them cause they are doomed anyway. Can't wait until the first company goes all in with AI, people learn and start to boycott the products. Should be funny.

 

[AJUMP23]

Technology has always displaced workers. It is up to you to adjust and change. It is not easy, my work may be affected eventually. But there are good jobs if you are willing to do them and swallow some pride and change.

I could see myself getting into finance if my current work ever changed. I would also like to get more properties to manage.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Technology has always displaced workers. It is up to you to adjust and change. It is not easy, my work may be affected eventually. But there are good jobs if you are willing to do them and swallow some pride and change.

I could see myself getting into finance if my current work ever changed. I would also like to get more properties to manage.

Easier said than done because a lot of workers assume they are entitled to great pay, job security, and perks even if their performance is crap and they dont want to learn anything new or adjust, the job role isnt needed anymore, or if there's simply someone better at it who should take over.

The good 'ol "just hum along till retirement" strategy. Looks like the strategy kind of worked for all us whose parents are already in their 70s or 80s and you could get a job after high school and half the company become 30 year club members. Not so easy to do now.

It's like someone caught in the transition from using typewriters you feed in sheets of paper to PCs and print it off from Wordperfect. Some people adjusted and learned using a computer, some were scared shitless what to do, and some just didnt care and assumed PCs are overrated.

Well, good luck getting a desk job without PC skills the past 40 years.

As for finance, not sure what you do now but unless you want to do accounting or taxes finance, the vast majority of finance department jobs I've seen or work at you just got to be good with numbers, know how to analyze reports and give feedback, and be the stereotypical finance dude who isnt loud or causes trouble. Lets the outgoing sales and marketing people act like that. And of course, you got to be detailed and know how to hit deadlines fast. Depending what role and tasks you do, you can literally have financial submission deadlines there is no tomorrow. If you and the team have to work till midnight on a weekend to finish it, then you got to do it. You'll have marked off in your Outlook calendar every month..... the third Thursday of each month got to do xxxx. First Monday on week 2 got to do xxxxx.

 

[Hypereides]

So I've been reading some experiences from people who have been made mostly redundant by AI and it feels like a bloodbath. The thought that this is coming to a greater number of professions feels almost apocalyptic. Things seem to move so rapidly that once you've schooled yourself for another type of work, it too will have been usurped by roboids.

From a copywriter:

The thing is that once you annihilate lower positions, you also destroy the ladders young people previously used to climb in ranks. AI seems to be exceptionally poised to pounce on certain positions, like the one quoted, but I can't see it stopping with anything except for the very elite positions. And exactly what will the rest of the unemployed do? Become carpenters or plumbers? Well, there's also a limit to those

(...)

I suspect those firms and companies, who accelerated the usage of AI to replace entire workforce teams, are going to face a big seniority problem in some years. Its not going to be pretty.

 

[AJUMP23]

Easier said than done because a lot of workers assume they are entitled to great pay, job security, and perks even if their performance is crap and they dont want to learn anything new or adjust, the job role isnt needed anymore, or if there's simply someone better at it who should take over.

The good 'ol "just hum along till retirement" strategy. Looks like the strategy kind of worked for all us whose parents are already in their 70s or 80s and you could get a job after high school and half the company become 30 year club members. Not so easy to do now.

It's like someone caught in the transition from using typewriters you feed in sheets of paper to PCs and print it off from Wordperfect. Some people adjusted and learned using a computer, some were scared shitless what to do, and some just didnt care and assumed PCs are overrated.

Well, good luck getting a desk job without PC skills the past 40 years.

As for finance, not sure what you do now but unless you want to do accounting or taxes finance, the vast majority of finance department jobs I've seen or work at you just got to be good with numbers, know how to analyze reports and give feedback, and be the stereotypical finance dude who isnt loud or causes trouble. Lets the outgoing sales and marketing people act like that. And of course, you got to be detailed and know how to hit deadlines fast. Depending what role and tasks you do, you can literally have financial submission deadlines there is no tomorrow. If you and the team have to work till midnight on a weekend to finish it, then you got to do it. You'll have marked off in your Outlook calendar every month..... the third Thursday of each month got to do xxxx. First Monday on week 2 got to do xxxxx.

I said it isn't easy in my post.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

physical labour, and even that is at the mercy of advancement in robotics which is going to be here soon enough too.

Get out of your 3-blocks SF bubble. We were promised autonomous taxis for 10 years now, they didn't even make it out of CA, let alone elsewhere in the world.

But I agree - trade seems to be a way to go. Start your own company, employ people, make bank.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Get out of your 3-blocks SF bubble. We were promised autonomous taxis for 10 years now, they didn't even make it out of CA, let alone elsewhere in the world.

But I agree - trade seems to be a way to go. Start your own company, employ people, make bank.

It is. Especially for people who just enjoy doing blue collar work instead of an office grind.

Problem is when it comes to careers, pay, and media, the academic route of university --> office job --> high stated salary ranges (egged on by: A grad working at Google can make $200,000!) --> people's enjoyment of tech and PC

is a much more popularized career route promoted in people's faces. It's easier to promote that when big Fortune 500 companies are talked about all the time. A trades job might involve big companies, but also might be small mom and pop or one-off contractor kinds of businesses, which nobody knows who they are.