What Jobs Will be Lost to Automation?

By John Breaux | December 28, 2019

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly powerful, concern continues to grow over how it will affect the jobs of millions of people. AI has the potential to disrupt countless jobs in the current economy, posing a major threat to the wellbeing of people working in a variety of different industries and professions. 

While AI and automation can be a major boon for both the economy and the convenience of our daily lives, it is important to monitor how it will affect the future of jobs in America. Here are the jobs that are at risk of being automated away in the near future. 

Warehouse positions 

One of the highest at-risk positions for automation is repetitive task-based jobs. Warehouse and manufacturing positions fall under this, and AI has been shown to be quite effective at performing sequenced tasks with higher accuracy and efficiency than human workers. 

Customer service (Phone)

Calling a company for support only to talk to an automated voice system can be incredibly frustrating, but unfortunately, that likely will only become more common. Thankfully, AI-driven customer service will grow to become more natural sounding and easier to understand. This, however, will impact the millions of Americans that work in customer service jobs to a greater degree. 

Long haul trucking

Self-driving cars will begin to be more common on the highways of America within the next 10-15 years. Truck drivers command a decent wage, and fewer are willing to take on the long hours required to work in this profession. In response, companies are developing self-driving trucks that will be able to navigate long haul routes without the error and pressure of human drivers. 

Drug research 

The drug discovery process is an expensive process that takes considerable time and analysis, but with AI, this process could soon be streamlined. Automation will be used to reach relevant scientific data to perform quick analysis of potential drugs, decreasing the time to market a drug discovery. 

Fast food service 

Already, you may be seeing automation kiosks at fast-food restaurants allowing you to order your meal without ever talking to a person. The next decade will see even further automation in this aspect of the fast-food industry, eliminating scores of service jobs. 

Healthcare workers 

No, a robot will not be your doctor anytime soon. But AI could become more utilized in areas involving the diagnosing of patients as well as performing basic surgery. Already, robots are being used by doctors and hospitals to help better serve patients. 

Soldiers and pilots 

AI is an attractive alternative for the military, as it takes our service members out of the line of fire. Examples include autonomous drones and aircraft piloted by AI systems or autonomous weapons that could be deployed on the battlefield in lieu of boots on the ground.