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When gold was discovered in California in 1848, more than 300,000 people moved west, one of the largest mass migrations in U.S. history.
The miners of the 19th century have little in common with today’s workers, except perhaps their desire to seize opportunities and get rich quick along the way.
If you’re wondering whether the current AI boom is the right time to pack up and start a new career, you’re in good company. From December 2022 to September 2023, applications for AI jobs in the U.S. are open had increased by 19% On the job site LinkedIn, the number of job applications mentioning AI has increased by 17% over the past two years.
AI is driving increased demand for software developers in particular, a field the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will see 25% growth from 2022 to 2032, which the company says is “much faster than the average for all occupations.”
As for the jobs most vulnerable to AI, they are likely to be those that are “already showing signs of declining demand” due to slower economic growth and a decline in the number of incoming workers, a Report July of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The CEA also said it sees little evidence that AI will be a drag on overall employment.
It’s a safe bet that software developer and software engineer roles will remain in demand as the AI boom continues — these are the people building that data-processing software. But you’re not necessarily left out if you don’t have a computer science degree.
Less than two years after the first generative AI tools made their debut — starting with OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and amazed us with their ability to create new content from massive amounts of data almost instantly, research shows more than half of Americans have used them in some way. Meanwhile, we see tech companies like Adobe, Amazon, and Anthropic promoting business-specific tools to drive adoption in the office.
A May report from consultancy McKinsey found 65% of respondents said their organizations were regularly using Gen AI, more than double the number a year earlier. As a result, McKinsey called 2024 “the year that organizations really start to use this new technology and get business value from it.”
To achieve this, they need to hire employees in new roles.
“This is not new,” said Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn. “Every time there is a technological innovation, new jobs arise that require people to operate it, fix it, figure out how it works, and train others.”
Below is a closer look at five promising AI jobs to consider:
AI engineer or specialist
This is someone who is trained to build AI models and applications. You can think of an AI engineer or specialist as someone who works within a specific niche of software engineering that focuses on building intelligent systems.
According to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, the AI specialist role is a popular job posting on the job site ZipRecruiter, as companies seek workers with hands-on experience writing algorithms and using APIs to build new applications using technology from AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
AI ethicist
An AI ethicist is someone who studies the ways in which AI is used. They consider the legal, moral, and social implications of AI to implement guidelines for the development and use of AI in an organization, as well as its potential impact on the outside world.
For example, they can review a company’s resume screening and candidate ranking algorithms for signs of bias and suggest improvements, such as incorporating new training data.
AI Protection Analyst or Responsible User Architect
This person is responsible for protecting a company’s IP and preventing misuse or fraud. They also have to ensure that all AI products developed by the company work as intended and within the guidelines for responsible use. This could mean that a financial company’s AI tool, which provides personalized advice based on sensitive data, ensures privacy and security.
They may also be responsible for complying with regulations such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, which requires businesses to provide notices explaining their privacy practices and to respond to consumers’ requests regarding their personal information.
AI Solutions Analyst
An AI solutions analyst helps organizations implement AI to work more efficiently across industries, much like a traditional business consultant. You can also think of this person as an AI whisperer.
“Many employers understand that this is a powerful new tool and they want to find a way to harness it and see if their business can become cheaper, faster, more efficient and more personalized using AI, but they have no idea [how]”, said Pollak.
Head AI
New leadership roles are also emerging, including titles like “chief AI officer” or “chief AI officer.” This is someone who oversees the development and implementation of AI at a company. They will typically lead a team of engineers and the titles listed above.
The other side of the coin
While job experts agree that many roles will be created or expanded to handle AI, they don’t predict that all current jobs will disappear entirely. And that’s despite companies using AI to perform repeatable, computer-driven tasks that were previously performed by human workers in departments like marketing, sales, product development, customer service and back-office support.
“We don’t think jobs are going to disappear,” Kimbrough said. “We just think people are going to do certain tasks less and rely more on this technology to do it for them.”
These five occupational categories are expected to experience the greatest impact:
Bank clerks and travel agents
These roles are perhaps the best example of jobs that have already been transformed by technology – think ATMs, online banking and e-commerce – and they will continue to evolve towards more human interaction.
“They’re still around — they’re just very customized,” Kimbrough said of travel agents. “They create personalized trips for you. But they’re not gone, and neither are bank tellers.”
Customer service employees
Another role that has already changed is that of a customer service representative. Website chatbots have long been able to answer basic questions and connect customers with human agents for more advanced queries. That trend is likely to continue and, like bank tellers and travel agents, customer service roles will evolve to include more personalized interactions, experts say.
Data Entry Professionals
Data entry has never been a particularly satisfying field, which makes it a good fit for AI. The repetitive nature of pulling data from documents or spreadsheets doesn’t bore AI at all — and it can process a lot more data a lot faster than you or I can.
The U.S. Department of Labor projects data entry keys will see a 26% drop in employment from 2022 to 2032. Expect AI to make significant progress here.
Translators
Given the ability of chatbots to translate languages — OpenAI’s ChatGPT speaks more than 50 while Google’s Gemini knows 40 — Nick Bunker, director of economic research at job site Indeed, predicts at least a decline in demand for human translators in the future. However, AI can’t do things like translate on the field after games with professional athletes, so it’s another position that may focus more on moments of human interaction.
Writers and marketers
This one hurts.
Pollak pointed to multiple reports on jobs threatened by AI, most of which are writing roles in a variety of industries, from accounting and economics to HR, law and film and TV production, as companies turn to AI to create content.
“A lot of the fields that are considered high-risk are very popular with students and job seekers — fields like communications and marketing,” Pollak said. “And so there can be a period of time where there’s a substantial mismatch between the skills that people have and the skills that the market needs.”
What we don’t know
And there will likely be changes that we can’t even comprehend yet.
Let’s have another quick history lesson, this time about the fashion world.
Before the Industrial Revolution, people typically had two outfits: one for work and one for church. However, with the advent of industrial spinning and cloth making after the Civil War, clothing began to be about more than just keeping warm. It became more common for people to have closets full of clothes, which led to variety, which fueled style and creativity, which helped develop fields such as design, advertising, modeling, and magazine publishing.
“The same will likely be true for AI,” Pollak said. “It will create new avenues for creativity and expression and change the nature of a wide range of goods and services around us in ways we cannot possibly predict.”
