- We asked ChatGPT to identify jobs that AI won't replace.
- ChatGPT listed therapists and caregivers as roles that AI struggles to replicate.
- AI's impact on some creative fields has raised questions about future job security.
We asked ChatGPT what jobs are safe from being taken over by artificial intelligence.
Its response, while sensible in many areas, left some reasons for doubt.
ChatGPT divided its answer into a half dozen buckets related to concepts such as emotional intelligence, human judgment, and hands-on trades.
AI can assist therapists and counselors "but lacks deep emotional understanding," ChatGPT's GPT-4o model said. Similarly, it said nurses and caregivers should be relatively safe from an AI takeover because patients require "human warmth and adaptability" as part of their care.
That all sounded reasonable — even though AI is, for example, already coming up with mental health advice for individuals.
Other answers made us wonder, though.
Under the rubric of "creative & artistic professions," ChatGPT said writers, novelists, and poets should be OK. Its reasoning is that while AI can pump out loads of text, "storytelling requires deep human experience."
It also listed teachers, professors, musicians, performers, artists, and designers as roles that will be safe from an AI takeover.
AI may change teaching
AI has already written novels or at least helped people write them, so it seems possible that humans could be eliminated from storytelling one day.
The same might go for teachers, as AI is making it easier for more people to access information and learn independently.
Jeff Maggioncalda, who was, until recently, CEO of Coursera, previously told BI that the company has been using AI to translate some of its courses from English to other languages. The technology has reduced the cost of doing that from $10,000 to $20, he said in mid-2024.
That meant more students who speak other languages learn at their own pace to help boost their career prospects.
Even if bots do some heavy lifting in education, humans will retain a hand in some aspects of teaching, said Thomas Howell, cofounder and CEO of Forum Education, which bills itself as the highest-paying and most selective tutoring company in the world.
Howell said he tried starting a company to use AI to conduct one-on-one teaching, though he later became convinced it wouldn't work even though the company had developed a prototype that he said was, in some respects, as good as a human.
Howell said he wanted to try to create an AI teacher because, over the long term, it would significantly lower the cost of education.
He said he ditched the AI teacher concept because, ultimately, he found tutoring is most effective when there are high standards and "deep personal trust," which allows a tutor to instill in students the belief that they can achieve their goals.
"It's more like a personal trainer than it is a source of information. And I don't see AI doing that anytime soon," Howell told BI.
ChatGPT gave a similar reason for teachers being safe from AI replacing them, stating, "While AI can teach, human educators provide mentorship, motivation, and adaptability."
AI's impact on artists and designers
Even if AI doesn't come for teachers, it's easy to see how it might take on the work of artists and designers despite ChatGPT's assessment that "originality and emotional depth remain uniquely human."
We've already seen fake images move those who viewed them — even while knowing they're generated by AI. Before last year's US election, an image of a girl holding a puppy in a rescue boat appeared to animate criticism of the government's response to Hurricane Helene.
While art might convey emotional depth, as ChatGPT said, its source isn't always people. Already, some artists have said the arrival of AI tools for generating images has cut into demand for their work.
Activision, which produces the "Call of Duty" franchise, has said it used AI to create some aspects of its games. Meanwhile, the Disney+ series "Secret Invasion," based on a comic book story, used AI to develop the show's opening credits.
ChatGPT's assertion that musicians and performers are safe because "creativity, emotional expression, and live performances require a human touch" felt more like something we might like to believe than what might come.
Fear that AI would subsume creative work arose as a factor in the 2023 Hollywood writer's strike.
Still, it seems AI might have been right about some of the roles that are safe for now. These include emergency responders who, ChatGPT said, need to excel at "fast, unpredictable decision-making," and leadership jobs such as CEOs and executive positions where "Leadership, vision, and company culture require human intuition."
According to ChatGPT, roles that require skilled labor, such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, mechanics, and chefs, are also likely to be safe.
That chatbot also said priests and religious leaders should be in good standing when it comes to job safety because "spiritual guidance and community leadership are deeply human roles."
Can we get an amen to that?
