Adapt or Die: Surviving the Age of AI

There’s a lot of talk lately about artificial intelligence (AI) killing industries, getting rid of jobs and wiping out people’s livelihoods. Like some kind of robot grim reaper sweeping across the nation, making people’s roles redundant.

What’s really going on here? Is this just media hype? Or is artificial intelligence about to take your job? Should you be scared?

No doubt AI is here to stay. Just like that Christina Aguilera song, that genie’s out of the bottle and she’s not going back in.

But is she really wreaking havoc across corporate America and the rest of the world? Should writers, lawyers, software engineers, farmers, musicians and painters be worrying about the coming AI apocalypse?

We’re investigating all things AI to see what’s behind this trend and how you can survive the age of AI.

What ChatGPT Says…

First, we went to the source. We asked ChatGPT which jobs it was most likely to replace. Here’s what it said:

“While AI has the potential to automate various tasks across different industries, it's important to note that the impact of AI on job roles is complex and can vary depending on several factors. While some job tasks may be automated, new job roles can also emerge as a result of AI advancements. Nonetheless, here are ten job roles that could potentially be affected by AI automation:

1. Data Entry Clerks
2. Telemarketers
3. Assembly Line Workers
4. Customer Service Representatives
5. Truck and Taxi Drivers
6. Toll Booth Operators
7. Cashiers
8. Paralegals and Legal Assistants
9. Stock Traders and Financial Analysts
10. Data Analysts

“It's important to remember that while AI may automate certain tasks within these job roles, human skills such as creativity, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence are difficult to replicate and remain highly valuable in many industries. Additionally, new job roles and opportunities are likely to emerge as AI continues to advance, potentially requiring human oversight, management, and development of AI systems.”

Translation? Yes, AI will replace some jobs. But it will also create new jobs that never existed before. (Evidently humans aren’t the only ones who can come up with non-answers to deflect difficult-to-answer questions.)

Once we started digging into this, we found that some of these job losses are already happening…

AI Apocalypse Is Already Here

Unfortunately for some, AI job losses have already begun.

One study released in June 2023 saw that employers are starting to list AI as the reason they are laying people off.

“Artificial intelligence taking people’s jobs is no longer a just threat on the horizon. In May, 3,900 people were laid off due to the technology… U.S. companies cut over 80,000 jobs last month, up 20% from April…. Reasons for the layoffs included market conditions, restructuring, and buyouts but also, for the first time, A.I. The nearly 4,000 A.I.-related layoffs were all in the tech industry…”

And experts predict that these job losses will only continue.

A Washington Post article told the story of a copywriter who lost her job to ChatGPT and also made this dire warning, “Some economists predict artificial intelligence technology like ChatGPT could replace hundreds of millions of jobs, in a cataclysmic reorganization of the workforce mirroring the industrial revolution.”

IBM’s CEO Arvind Krishna said in a May 2023 article that the company was going to be slowing or suspending hiring for jobs that could potentially be done by AI:

“‘I could easily see 30 percent of that getting replaced by AI and automation over a five-year period,’ Krishna told the publication [Bloomberg], which means that in total, AI could replace up to 7,800 jobs.”

We have to admit, none of this is good news for people depending on that paycheck for their bills. But some companies who rely too heavily on AI might end up hiring those human workers back after the AI starts messing some things up.

Let’s see two quick examples of this before we show you how you can adapt to this new AI environment.

“Welcome to McDonalds!”

You drive up to your local McDonald’s to order one of those juicy quarter-pounders. The voice behind the giant colorful screen sounds a little strange. You’re wondering who it could be when you realize it sounds more like Siri than a high school senior. You quickly realize you’re talking with an AI voice that is asking you if you want to “super size it.”

This might seem like a small thing—or maybe even kind of cool—but fast food restaurants are rolling this technology out around the country. But some people are getting annoyed with the AI personalities because the robot order-takers are messing up orders and it is harder to get things fixed.

“Chatbots are taking orders at White Castle, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Dunkin’ drive-thrus, The Wall Street Journal reports, and the experience is getting mixed reviews. While fast-food chains say chatbots free up workers to do other tasks, some customers complain that service has taken a hit. They gripe that these AIs occasionally mess up orders or simply lack the interpersonal skills of a human attendant.”

Since AI is still being experimented with, the software will probably only get better. But for now, it is causing some disruption in industries and making some things harder than they should be.

Chatbots in Charge of Hiring

AI-powered chatbots are also being used in the hiring world and are under scrutiny by some for their lack of skills.

Journalist Amanda Claypool with Business Insider wrote an article in June 2023 titled, “I applied to McDonald's and 4 other fast food jobs, but the chatbots and automated process made it impossible for me to get hired.”

Amanda talked about how frustrating it was to try to apply for a simple fast food job via an AI chatbot.

“I've applied to five fast food jobs: Crumbl Cookies, McDonald's, Wendy's, Hardee's, and Waffle House. I successfully landed a part-time job as a server at Waffle House and it was the only one with a human point of contact during the application process. … the jobs that made me apply with AI chatbots left me annoyed and uncertain.”

McDonald's uses AI chatbots to automate its hiring process, but it made things more complicated.

“I applied to McDonald’s and answered the questions the chatbot named Olivia asked me. Most of them were screening questions: ‘what is your name,’ ‘are you legally allowed to work in the United States,’ and ‘when are you available to work.’ Once the chatbot deemed I was qualified it was supposed to schedule me for an interview, but it didn't.”

“Instead of setting up an interview, the chatbot asked how it could further assist me. This left me confused. I asked it again how to apply for a job at McDonald's and it responded by providing me with a generic corporate email address.”

Yikes! This sounds like a huge hassle, and definitely not a more effective hiring method. Let’s hope McDonald’s hiring chatbot 2.0 fixes some of these bugs.

But despite these AI missteps, let’s look at an area AI is really transforming—the publishing industry.

5 Ways AI is Revolutionizing the Publishing World

AI is changing the publishing world in a big way. And in exciting ways!

First, we need to define “generative AI.” This is the type of software that is most popular right now (think ChatGPT) and is being used to write entire novels, create paintings and other interesting art pieces and generate albums that are being released on audio streaming services.

Publishers and writers are bringing AI automation into publishing and finding a ton of new and exciting ways to leverage AI tools to help them with their work. If you’re a writer or you work in the publishing field, here are just some of the ways AI is being used to streamline processes.

1. Research
   Maybe one of the best ways AI is being used is in research and fact-checking. Tools like ChatGPT and Frase can access large amounts of information and quickly scan the web to help fill in your own knowledge gaps. Some publishers are reporting that AI tools cut in half the time it takes them to do their work. AI is also really helpful when it comes to outlines. This can save a ton of time figuring out what order to put things in.
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2. Developing Story, Characters and Fictional Worlds
   If you’re a publishers who makes their living by using https://www.publishing.com/blog/how-to-publish-a-book-on-amazon, AI can help develop the plot or characters of your novel. People are using it to come up with character names, names of locations in their story and plot points.
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3. Smashing Through Writer’s Block
   Messing with AI tools for a few minutes can do wonders to get your creative juices flowing and break through writer’s block. Put in a few funny or ridiculous prompts and see what it comes up with. You can also use AI to generate ideas for your writing projects. Maybe you’re trying to find the best title for your essay. Ask ChatGPT to give you five title options.
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4. Editing and Proofreading
   AI software can now act as an “Editor-in-chief” for your work. They can help catch typos, inaccuracies, grammar issues and suggest better wording.
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5. Managing Social Media
   Publishers are leveraging AI tools to manage social media accounts. People are finding they no longer need to hire a social media team to manage their brand and marketing. AI tools can save time by automating social media management.
   
   AI can also look at your content and pick the elements that will perform the best, including which type of content to use. It can even come up with the best time of day to post.

Even though we saw some disturbing trends regarding AI, you don’t have to be afraid of the new technology taking your job. Just make sure you’re staying on the cutting edge, leveraging the tools as much as you can, and learning new ways to adapt in an ever-changing tech environment.

If you adapt to these current trends and learn how to leverage AI, you can survive and even thrive in the AI age.