Who is at risk of massive job losses from the AI revolution: blue-collar workers or white-collar workers?
Most experts agree that artificial intelligence will completely change the American workforce (there are already signs that it is doing so in the technology industry).
But there have been conflicting reports about who is most at risk, lower-wage workers or middle managers.
A report from think tank McKinsey Global estimated that the lowest-paid Americans are up to 14 times more likely to be replaced by AI than those with the highest salaries.
But another JP Morgan report predicted a “massive realignment of white-collar jobs” this decade.
DailyMail.com spoke to six leading experts to cut through the noise.
Middle management beware
Artificial intelligence will arrive first for repetitive jobs, but will evolve to replace middle management, and even knowledge professions such as law and accounting, warned John Warner, founder of Innoventure.
Warner said: ‘Human jobs involving repetitive and predictable tasks that can be automated are at high risk, including assembly line work, basic data entry and some aspects of accounting.
“Jobs based on a checklist or input boxes on a screen are not long for this world, including telemarketers, travel agents, bank tellers, tellers, and loan processors.”
Financial analysts and insurers are also at risk, along with any job that involves large amounts of number crunching, due to AI’s ability to analyze data and access stored knowledge, Warner warned.
John Warner, founder of Innoventure
Warner said: ‘Many knowledge worker jobs are threatened by AI.
‘Most middle management positions receive information in one way, manipulate it and report it in another way.
‘Automation does that more efficiently. This will not be limited to middle management.
“Sophisticated AI will perform the analysis that will replace professional jobs in engineering, law, accounting and other knowledge professions.”
Administrative and accounting functions
Administrative and accounting functions will see a sharp decline due to the automation of data entry and basic reporting, warns Martin Mulyadi, Ph.D., professor of accounting at Shenandoah University School of Business.
Martin Mulyadi, Ph.D., Professor of Accounting at Shenandoah University School of Business
Mulyadi said: ‘The roles most affected are probably those that can be systematized or involve repeated tasks.
“For example, AI is expected to cause a sharp decline in many white-collar jobs.
“It is essential to remember that while AI may reduce the need for some jobs, it is also opening up new possibilities.
‘I would expect employment in the areas of data science and analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to expand rapidly.
“In my field of accounting, I can see the demand for accounting experts who understand that there is expected to be demand.”
Call centers ‘disappeared in five years’
Call centers will virtually disappear within five years, predicted Piers Linney, founder of Implement AI.
Linney told DailyMail.com: ‘Generative AI will increase productivity as the human workforce increases and technology becomes more capable over time at taking on tasks. This means fewer employees will be needed.
Piers Linney, investor and business expert
‘For example, call centers will be almost completely automated within five years.
‘However, it is a mistake to assume that only low-skilled workers will be affected, as a reduction in the need for expensive skills workers represents a significant cost saving.
“In the next decade, we will have to rethink our educational, economic, social security and tax systems.”
Customer service in focus
Any job that involves repetitive and predictable tasks could be automated by AI, warned Bernard Marr, author of “Generative AI in Practice.”
Bernard Marr, author of ‘Generative AI in Practice’.
Marr said: ‘AI is set to replace jobs that involve repetitive and predictable tasks across several sectors, including manufacturing, data entry and basic customer service functions.
‘However, this does not mean doom; rather, he signals a shift toward jobs that require human empathy, creativity, and strategic thinking.”
But programmers can rest easy, Marr believes.
Marr said: ‘As far as programmers are concerned, the fear that AI will replace them is largely unfounded.
“While AI can and is used to automate certain coding tasks and even write basic code, the role of the programmer is evolving rather than diminishing.
“Programmers are needed to design, monitor and refine AI systems, and their expertise is crucial to solving complex problems, innovating and ensuring AI applications align with ethical standards and human needs.
“The future sees programmers working alongside AI, using it as a tool to improve productivity and creativity.”
Beware of paralegals and investigators
Jobs that involve retrieving and condensing information will be under threat, according to Nathaniel Whittemore, founder of Superintelligent, a platform for learning about AI.
Whittemore says: ‘Skills (and more specifically tasks) are much more likely to disappear due to AI than jobs.
‘Jobs will evolve to involve different combinations of skills and tasks as certain things phase out AI.
‘Skills/tasks that are in trouble: Anything that involves very basic research or information retrieval, which could be anything from low-level customer service to paralegals. Anything that involves summarizing and condensing other information.
“However, there will be certain complex problems that require human attention, and the skills needed to manage those experiences will be human interface skills.
“There may be fewer people employed for these high-level challenges, but they will be more valued and better rewarded because of the new perception of the importance of their skills.”
Writers and analysts
A 2023 scientific paper reveals that mathematicians, financial analysts and writers are most at risk of being replaced by AI, said Thomas Roulet, professor of Sociology and Organizational Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Roulet added: ‘This is a difficult and well-researched question! I’m sure you will have many answers, but the most authoritative source is this one. paper 2023.
‘Identifies mathematicians, accountants, financial analysts, writers, news analysts and financiers as those most at risk of being replaced by AI.
“The truth is that those occupations will adapt rather than die: people will consume news, financial analysis or consultant reports in a different way knowing that AI has helped produce them.”