In a recent speech, Forrester vice president and principal consultant Huard Smith said that the human aspect of many professions would be “all gone” by 2030 due to advances in AI and ML technology.

In this piece, I’ll look at seven of the industries or positions that are currently most likely to decline over the next decade. Believe me; number seven will surprise you.

1. Telemarketers

The chances of this particular role becoming fully computerized are as high as 99.9%. This is mainly because telemarketing conversion rates are relatively low. Also, there is an expected 4% reduction in career growth expectancy across this industry over the next few years.

2. Compensation and Benefits Managers

With a replacement chance of over 96% and a growth ratio of 7%, this job could well be impacted by automated technology. Many large organizations trust automated management systems that use algorithms to calculate benefits and compensations. AI reduces the risk of human error and can also save businesses thousands in employment and insurance costs.

3. Couriers

With the rise in popularity of drone delivery services enhanced by Amazon’s widely publicized ‘Prime Air Service,’ over the coming years, delivery staff will be replaced by drones or robots in the majority of cases. Earlier this year, Tech Republic’s Tom Merrit took a look into five companies that are making delivery robots a reality in this report.

4. Proofreaders

Being a journalist, I can certainly relate to this sector and the impact that automated proofreading has had on my career. I run all of my pieces through Grammarly Premium because I understand that I’m not a perfect writer and that there is always room for human error.

Also, with SEO being such an essential factor for many websites, content writers, and marketing professionals, we’re becoming heavily reliant on plagiarism detection software, which itself requires AI technology.

Yes, when it comes to releasing a novel, the human mind is much better at detecting sentiment and context. However, automated tools can correct 99% of errors in terms of syntax, grammar, and spelling.

5. Advertising Salespeople

It’s not uncommon for businesses to create promotional videos using simple animations these days. In fact, these videos often lead to more views and shares across social media channels. People don’t need to purchase an advertisment on a webpage or in a magazine to reach thousands of people anymore.

As humans, we’re visual thinkers, so we can absorb more from animation, and are more likely to purchase or respond, the more stimulated our brains become. Additionally, social media makes virality a potential for every piece of well-executed content, saving thousands in sales and advertising revenue.

6. Retail Salespeople

According to Samantha McDonald of Footwearnow.com

“For the retail trade sector itself, the automation potential is more than half at 53% — already replacing jobs through self-checkout kiosks, AI concierges, mobile payment systems, and Amazon Go-style stores.”

It’s a fact that the emergence and growth of online shopping and e-commerce have seen a decrease in physical footfall across retailers, with some of the world’s largest retailers closing their doors this year.

Customer reviews give online shoppers the market research tools that trump any advice from a commission-based shop assistant, and AI offers personalization that is unparalleled by human interactions due to intelligent algorithms.

7. Radiologists

Now, this is the shocking one, the thought that machines will replace people that we trust to correctly and efficiency diagnose severe medical conditions. Although there has been much talk of AI replacing radiologists, Author Curtis P. Langlotz, MD, Ph.D., department of radiology at Stanford University has said:

“We often compare AI algorithms to radiology experts based on the ability to identify a single disease or a small set of conditions. These assessments dramatically oversimplify what radiologists do. A comprehensive catalog of radiology diagnoses lists nearly 20,000 terms for disorders and imaging observations and over 50,000 causal relations.
AI is destined to “profoundly change” the practice of radiology — but there will still most certainly be a need for radiologists.”

To Conclude

In recent news, one of the world’s ‘master players’ of the famous Chinese strategy game ‘Go’ has announced his retirement claiming that

‘AI cannot be defeated.’

Lee Se-dol was the only human ever to beat the AlphaGo software developed by Deepmind, Google’s sister company.

AI has not broadened the perspectives of automation, but it has managed to redefine what completion automation means.

It’s unreasonable to suggest that AI will not replace any jobs or make jobs easier or better for humans. I think that society will find synergy somewhere in the middle of these prospects.

It’s a given that AI is going to make tasks and jobs more straightforward and easier for humans. It’s also a certainty that robots will replace us in some industries and capacities.

But fear not, there is no real threat to levels of human employment, we’re an adaptive race. As Puneet Metha explained in Forbes earlier this year:

“AI is not going to take away jobs. It will displace some jobs, yes, but it will more likely change what human workers do. I believe the panic over AI eliminating tons of human jobs is misinformed. I’m not alone. There are experts who believe AI will actually create a plethora of new jobs (many of which we don’t even know what they’ll be yet).”

Maybe we’re ready for a restructuring of how our economy functions.

Perhaps we’re in for a big surprise…

Maybe, just maybe, androids will dream of electric sheep!