4 Careers That AI Can't Replace

With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, it’s no surprise that jobseekers are concerned about their job prospects in our technology-driven world. In the modern era, AI has developed to a point where it can complete many day-to-day tasks — it can create art, music, books, and even film. AI is capable of translating between languages, summarizing information, making recommendations, facial recognition, analyzing data, and much more. As a result, many organizations have begun to utilize AI, eliminating the need for an employee to perform the same day-to-day tasks. 

That being said, there are still some tasks that AI just can’t replicate. If you’re a jobseeker concerned about your job prospects in an increasingly AI world, keep reading to find five careers that AI can’t replace. 

• Healthcare

At the heart of healthcare is the ability to empathize and feel compassion for patients. Although AI can perform administrative, data-driven tasks, AI cannot replicate the emotion and connection between healthcare providers and their patients. This makes humans irreplaceable in the medical space. 

If AI were to replace healthcare administrators , like doctors, they would be able to refer to past patient data and analyze symptoms to recommend an appropriate treatment plan. However, the healthcare space is rarely this straightforward. Healthcare providers need to be mindful of a patient’s emotions and personal circumstances. This is something AI cannot analyze. There are several factors which influence a healthcare provider’s choice of treatment plan, and it is not as easy as simple data analysis. It requires consideration of side effects, psychological factors, and patient comfort. 

In order to provide a true healthcare experience, compassion, empathy, and understanding is at the forefront of everything healthcare professionals do. There would be a stark and uncomfortable difference between a human and AI healthcare provider.

Additionally, AI is prone to making mistakes. They’re trained off pre-existing information which can be biased, misinformed, outdated, and even incomplete.

Looking for a job in healthcare? Connect with our network of healthcare professionals!

• Education

Now this one is a little controversial. The truth is, many believe AI can and even will replace teachers. However, the idea that this would be possible goes against the very essence of what teaching is. 

For teachers to be replaced by simple AI programs, we’d be whittling down teaching to its barest form — outlining instructions, handing out pre-made worksheets, and giving feedback. Imagine learning in an environment like that. 

Teaching is a very human experience, and AI just doesn’t cut it. While we could just read a set of instructions, do an assignment, and wait for the AI to generate a grade, this style of learning will never be as effective. 

The ability to interact with a human teacher, someone who has lived as a student and learned from their own experiences, is irreplaceable. Asking questions and having genuine conversation is not just vital to a student’s growth, but formative for young students as they grow into adults. 

Moreover, human teachers can account for specific demographics of people in a way AI can’t. Not every student is the same, but AI is not designed to provide a versatile and adaptable learning experience. It will simply replicate the same learning process each time. This does a great disservice to students with learning disabilities, social anxiety, and difficult home lives who require special consideration. 

Looking to break into the teaching industry? Let us connect you with any education professionals in our network!

• Social Work and Psychology

In a similar case to healthcare, social work and psychology is a career centralized around empathy and human understanding. While AI can gather and recite knowledge from publicly-available psychological studies, resources, and media, psychology and social work depends on the back and forth between you and another person needing help. Human social workers and psychologists are trained to interact with people in a sensitive and mindful manner, which AI can’t always replicate in every circumstance.

Another important aspect of psychology and social work is accountability. Being held accountable is a major factor in pushing people to listen, grow, and change. There is no accountability in AI social work or therapy. A patient can abruptly stop communication with an AI social worker or psychologist with little to no consequence, giving them less reason to stick to improving themselves. 

While the relationship between psychologist/social worker and patient is strictly professional, AI cannot replace the human connection that exists between these two people. Humans cannot connect to AI, and as a result, patients could never connect to an AI therapist or social worker. AI is unable to replace human social workers or psychologists.  

Are you starting your career in psychology or social work? Ask us about connecting with our allied healthcare network. 

• Skilled Trades

We can confidently say that skilled trades will not be replaced by AI. 

AI-powered skilled trades require a machine or robot to be able to perform manual tasks. Not only that, but in certain industries, such as residential plumbing and roofing, AI needs to be able to effectively communicate with customers. At this point in time, this level of artificial intelligence is highly expensive and completely unrealistic for the average trades company to invest in. Additionally, very few companies have been able to successfully bring this type of artificial intelligence to the market. 

While it’s not impossible that AI engineers will eventually reach this crucial milestone, that doesn’t mean AI will become the main delivery of skilled trades. Skill tradespeople are flexible and adaptable, often working in unpredictable environments in unpredictable scenarios. AI succeeds best in predictable, controlled environments. It draws on pre-existing information from humans who have learned from the same or similar experiences. However, this is part of its weakness. In unpredictable circumstances, AI struggles or sometimes even fails to effectively react and adapt. If there’s no pre-existing information to draw knowledge from, AI simply cannot do anything at all. 

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