AI Will Replace Me

I put my job description into AI to ask it how it can one day replace me.  I did this, not defensively so that I can build an argument to justify my existence, but so I can stay ahead of AI and understand how I need to adapt to make sure I can continue to be relevant.

I know a lot of people are scared that AI will make them redundant.  I’m not a fortune teller, nor due I claim to be the smartest person in the room.  But there is one thing I know, we can spend our time trying to predict the future (and be scared of it), or we can spend our time trying to build it.  I personally would rather focus on the latter.  Because that sounds a lot more exciting. 

One thing to ease any of the "scaries" is that there have been plenty of technological advancements in the past that were feared to put people out of jobs (e.g., computers for bookkeepers, ATMs/ABMs for tellers, robotics for manufacturers, heck people even thought email would eliminate postal workers).  From what I gather, people were just as scared of losing their jobs then as they are now (on a relative basis of course, as with the proliferation of social media, it wasn’t in your face as much back then as it is now that we’re inundated with all the scaremongering on LinkedIn, podcasts, and YouTube).  

Some jobs may have been lost, sure, but a lot I think adapted.  For me present day evidence of this is the self-checkout at the supermarket.  My local spot doesn’t have a cashier checkout anymore.  Since they introduced the self-checkout, I see a lot more people stocking the shelves and a lot fewer empty shelves then I used to see in the past.  Well, I don’t have the behind-the-scenes info, so I can’t say for certain, it seems to me that the cashiers’ roles weren’t made redundant but rather were changed.  And as a consumer, it’s been great for me – no more empty shelves, no more not being able to find what I need (more people restocking mean more people available to ask questions to find items).  There’s positive in any circumstance if you choose to look for it. 

The cynic might argue that in the past, technological developments led to an upgrade in work quality as one got to focus on more meaningful activities whereas generative AI is going to take the fun stuff and leave one stuck with the photocopying.  I disagree.  I think if AI can run reports so I don’t need to, if AI can spot trends before I can, and if AI can identify corelations that I don’t, then I can focus on the fun stuff like strategy, execution, influencing, critical thinking, employee development – for me that’s a win.  And plus, who’s photocopying anymore?!?  This is 2026, nothing should be paper based.  Save the planet folks.

The scaremongering is good to a certain extent.  It’s always been a mantra of mine to do the things I’m scared of so I am jumping in with two feet and “playing around” with AI.  If you stay scared, and not proactive, you are probably right to be scared - it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy: in no time, you will be irrelevant and un-hireable.  For you, best to by a farm and focus on things that are likely to be untouched by AI (but before you get too excited, please note: untouched by AI doesn’t necessarily mean untouched by robotics or other technological developments).    

Thoughts and opinions are purely my own, no ChatGPT here.  The above is just a brief conceptual summary, for more specific details, feel free to use ChatGPT.  I’d suggest a prompt along the lines of:

Please review my job description and tell me how you, and other AI tools, can replace the type of work I do.  I'd like to understand what AI can do better than me, what I can do better than AI, and what I need to focus on in the near to medium term (whether that’s upskilling, reskilling, or pivoting into a different area) so that I can always have paid employment. 

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If you’re interested in reading what AI told me when I asked how it will replace me, below are the responses (and because like any curious person, I sought a second opinion):

According to Co-Pilot:

According to Claude: