When gold was discovered in California in 1848, more than 300,000 people moved west, one of the largest mass migrations in US history.
Those miners of the 19th century have little in common with the workers of today, except, perhaps, for a desire to follow opportunity — and get rich quick along the way.
If you’re wondering whether today’s AI boom is the right time to pull up stakes and start a new career, you’re in good company. From December 2022 to September 2023, applications to AI jobs in the US were up 19% on jobs site LinkedIn while listings that mention AI have seen a 17% increase in applications in the last two years.
AI is driving increased demand for software developers in particular, a field that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will see 25% growth from 2022 to 2032, which it says is “much faster than the average for all occupations.”
As for the jobs that are most vulnerable to AI, they’re most likely to be those that are “already showing some signs of decreasing demand” because of slower economic growth and a decrease in incoming workers, according to a July report from the White House’s 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 roles like software developer and software engineer will remain in demand as the AI boom continues — these are the people building this data-processing software. But you’re not necessarily left out if you don’t have a degree in computer science.
Less than two years after the first generative AI tools debuted — starting with OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and wowed us with their ability to create new content almost instantly based on massive amounts of data, research shows more than half of Americans have used them in some capacity. Meanwhile, we’re seeing tech companies like Adobe, Amazon and Anthropic promote enterprise-specific tools to encourage adoption at the office.
A report in May from consulting firm McKinsey found 65% of respondents say their organizations regularly use gen AI, more than double what it was a year earlier. As a result, McKinsey dubbed 2024 “the year organizations truly began using — and deriving business value from — this new technology.”
And in order to do so, they need to bring on employees in new roles.
“This is not new,” said Karin Kimbrough, chief economist at LinkedIn. “Every time there’s a technological innovation, there are new jobs that are created where people need to manage it, repair it, figure out how it works and train others.”
Here’s a closer look at five up-and-coming AI jobs to consider.
AI engineer or specialist
This is someone who has been trained to build AI models and applications. You can think of an AI engineer or specialist as working within a specific niche of software engineering that is focused on building intelligent systems.
AI specialist is a popular listing on jobs site ZipRecruiter as companies seek employees with hands-on experience in writing algorithms and using APIs to develop new applications with technology from AI companies like OpenAI or Anthropic, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
AI ethicist
An AI ethicist is someone who dives into the ways AI is used. They consider AI’s legal, moral and social implications to implement guidelines for AI’s development and use in an organization, as well as its potential impact on the outside world.
For example, they might assess a company’s resume screening and candidate ranking algorithms for signs of bias and suggest ways to improve, like incorporating new training data.
AI protection analyst or responsible use architect
This individual is responsible for protecting a company’s IP and preventing abuse or fraud. They must also ensure any AI products developed by the company are operating as intended and within responsible use guidelines. This could include ensuring an AI tool from a financial company, which offers personalized advice based on sensitive data, is maintaining privacy and security.
They might also be responsible for compliance with regulations like the California Consumer Privacy Act, which requires companies to provide notices explaining their privacy practices and to respond to consumer requests regarding their personal information.
AI solutions analyst
An AI solutions analyst helps organizations implement AI to work more efficiently across a range of industries, sort of like a traditional business consultant. You can also think of this person as an AI whisperer.
“Many employers understand this is a powerful new tool and they want to figure out a way to harness it and see if their business could become cheaper, quicker, more efficient and more personalized using AI, but they have no idea [how],” Pollak said.
Head of AI
New leadership roles are also emerging, which include titles like “head of AI” or “chief AI officer.” This is someone who oversees the development and deployment of AI at a company. They will typically manage a team composed of engineers and the titles listed above.
The other side of the coin
While job experts agree many roles will be created or expanded to deal with AI, they stop short of predicting the full-on elimination of any current jobs. That’s even as businesses tap into AI for repeatable, computer-based tasks previously performed by human employees in departments like marketing, sales, product development, customer care and back-office support.
“We don’t think jobs are going to go away,” Kimbrough said. “We just think people are going to do certain tasks less and rely on this technology to do it more for them.”
These five job categories are projected to see the most impact:
Bank tellers and travel agents
These roles are perhaps the best example of jobs that have already changed as a result of technology — think ATMs, online banking and e-commerce — and they will continue to shift toward providing more of a human touch.
“They’re still around — they’re just very bespoke,” Kimbrough said of travel agents. “They do personalized trips for you. But they didn’t go away and neither did bank tellers.”
Customer service representatives
Another role that has already changed is customer service rep. Website chatbots have long been able to answer basic FAQs and connect customers to human employees for more advanced queries. This 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 known as a particularly fulfilling job field, which makes it a good match 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.
The US Department of Labor projects data entry keyers will see a 26% drop in employment from 2022 to 2032. Expect AI to make significant inroads here.
Translators
Given the capacity for 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, forecasts at least a decline in demand for human translators in the future. However, AI can’t do things like in-the-field translations after games with professional athletes, so it’s another position that may shift to focus more heavily on moments with human interaction.
Writers and marketers
This one hurts.
Pollak pointed to multiple reports about jobs threatened by AI, which usually include writing roles in a range of industries from accounting and economics to HR, law and making movies and TV shows, as businesses start using AI to create content instead.
“Many of the fields that are seen as being at major risk are very popular with students and job seekers — fields like communications and marketing,” Pollak said. “And so there may be a period when there is a substantial mismatch between the skills that people have and the skills the market needs.”
What we don’t know
And there are likely changes to come we can’t even fathom yet.
Consider another quick history lesson, this time in the fashion field.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, people typically had two outfits — one for work and one for church. However, following the advent of industrial spinning and fabric making after the Civil War, clothing started to become about more than just staying warm. It became more common for individuals to have closets full of clothes, which led to variety, which spurred style and creativity, which helped develop fields like design, advertising, modeling and magazine publishing.
“The same thing will likely be true for AI,” Pollak said. “It’ll create new avenues for creativity and expression and change the nature of a whole wide range of goods and services around us in ways that we can’t possibly predict.”
