What jobs will disappear and what jobs will be created in the age of generative AI?

It is said that the emergence of generative AI has brought about a period of transformation in global industries. The emergence of the conversational AI chat tool "ChatGPT" from OpenAI in the US and the image generating tool "Midjourney" has had a major impact on society. As a result, it is predicted that 80% of all jobs will be affected by generative AI in the future.

A Goldman Sachs report points out that in the US and Europe, a quarter of current work tasks could be automated by AI, and 18% could be automated worldwide. And it seems that Japan is expected to be the third most affected by AI in the world.

AI technologies can be broadly divided into three categories:

• Machine Learning/Deep Learning
  Its purpose is to analyze data, find patterns using statistical methods and algorithms, and make predictions about unknown data based on those patterns. Deep learning is an evolution of machine learning. It is a method that uses an artificial neural network similar to the human brain. AI learns on its own without human support. It extracts features from data and uses those features to perform advanced recognition and predictions.

• Image and voice recognition
  AI can recognize images, scenery, and sounds. It is used to identify locations from images, and in the medical field, to analyze X-ray and MRI images and detect abnormalities. AI is already being used to recognize voice and convert spoken words into text, as well as to operate home appliances by voice command. Image and voice recognition is being applied in the fields of autonomous driving, robotics, and security.

• Natural Language Processing

  Natural language processing is a technology that can understand human spoken language and generate that language. Using machine learning, deep learning, self-teaching, etc., AI learns patterns from large amounts of data and uses those patterns to analyze new data. With natural language processing technology, AI is now able to answer questions and generate images and sounds. Recent chatbots have made great advances by incorporating natural language processing.

The use of AI is now spreading in all industries around the world. According to PwC Japan Group's "AI Predictions for 2021," the use of AI has progressed in Japan in recent years. The percentage of companies that introduce AI into their work will be 43% in 2021, up 16% from 27% in 2020.

Currently, generative AI has the ability to generate a wide variety of content. Text-generating AI can not only write manuscripts, but also understand proposals, stories, and all programming languages, and can even write programs for apps.

It can translate, and if you give instructions to the AI, it can create new works such as illustrations and music. Research by Taina Elandau of OpenAI and others suggests that programming and writing jobs will be affected by generative AI. On the other hand, it is speculated that jobs and jobs that involve science and critical thinking skills will be less affected.

Examples of jobs that will be affected include the following:

• Interpreter/Translator
• Researcher
• Market researcher
• Songwriter/Composer
• Animal scientist
• Writer/Author
• Mathematician
• Tax accountant
• Financial data analyst
• Programmer/Web designer

According to Forbes, a key takeaway from Elandow's research is that generative AI could reshape the workplace in ways we can't even imagine today. He even says that some jobs may eventually disappear.

Amazon's web service AWS has also entered the generative AI market in earnest, announcing "Amazon Bedrock." This completes the three cloud giants: Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

What Amazon is aiming for with generative AI is that it is predicted to expand its business into the field of customer service (CS).

Amazon's CS stores a huge amount of recorded data of all past contacts from customers. It stores all CS recording data in countries where it operates around the world. It is said that the company aims to have generative AI analyze this data and provide CS through AI. Amazon may come to dominate CS operations around the world.

The Industrial Revolution, which began in the late 18th century in the UK, saw machines take jobs from people. Recently, the Internet has come on the scene and brought about a revolution in industry. The number of brick-and-mortar stores has drastically decreased, greatly affecting media such as television and print media. With the advent of smartphones, everyone has started using the Internet, and lifestyles have changed dramatically.

Some jobs will disappear during this revolution, but new jobs will also be created.

With the emergence of generative AI, companies are now in need of people with "AI skills," such as prompt engineers. According to PWC Japan's "AI Forecast for 2022," when asked about the "shortage of AI skills," 37% of American companies and 45% of Japanese companies answered that there is a shortage.

Prompt engineers are currently attracting a lot of attention around the world. Prompt engineers are engineers who can create advanced prompts (written instructions) that maximize the capabilities of generative AI, and they are frequently featured in overseas media.

Anthropic, a rival of OpenAI that develops the conversational AI "Claude," is recruiting prompt engineers with annual salaries of $280,000 (approx. 42 million yen) to $375,000 (approx. 56 million yen).

Pronto engineers are likely to be replaced by AI in a few years when generative AI becomes established, but it is said that there has been high demand from companies in recent years.

In Japan, VTubers using AI have appeared and become popular among YouTubers, and are gaining more views.

For example, "AI Hiroyuki," a VTuber officially recognized by Nishimura Hiroyuki, occasionally broadcasts live, and the number of viewers exceeds 100,000. He speaks and thinks just like Hiroyuki.

In addition to AI Hiroyuki, there are also YouTubers who use voice dialogue AI to make VTubers broadcast live. It is said that all can be created for free.

There are also companies that develop conversational AI services that serve as conversation partners for elderly people living alone. AI weather forecasters and AI illustrators have also appeared, and it is rumored that AI blockchain gamers have also appeared.

The emergence of AI traders has also been confirmed in financial markets such as stock investment. They read the demand for all stocks in micron-level increments and repeat short-term buying and selling thousands or tens of thousands of times a day. Some jobs will disappear with the emergence of generative AI, but many more will be created. If we leave everything to AI, we may be entering a dream era where we can live a life of leisure.

At the moment, there are risks in entrusting everything to generative AI. This is because cutting-edge AI can be "confidently wrong" and often "authoritatively presents lies." Human monitoring is still necessary.

In addition, there are issues regarding information leaks when companies adopt it. There is a risk that customer information or confidential company information will be mistakenly collected by the AI ​​as big data.

In industries where AI is being increasingly used, such as IT, finance, healthcare, and the automotive industry, how to recognize and control the risks associated with AI is an urgent issue.

Image: Shutterstock

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◉Akira Satomi
Former weekly magazine reporter. In charge of scandals and economic articles. Currently a freelance journalist, he writes for monthly and weekly magazines and web media. While he writes about crypto assets and other Web 3.0-related topics, he also writes about B-grade gourmet food such as ramen and izakayas.

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