AI takeover: The top three types of jobs to disappear in Australia when artificial intelligence technology takes over roles
Retail workers and those working in the food sector will be replaced by AI as takeover of the workforce increases, an expert has revealed.
The dire warning comes amid fears that the technology known as generative AI could be rolled out across Australia by the end of this year, displacing thousands of workers.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence technology that is trained to perform tasks that a human can do, such as speaking and writing in a particular language.
The technology is already widely used around the world in various industries and is designed to replace workers employed in mundane and repetitive jobs such as clerical work and banking services.
Niusha Shafiabady, an associate professor at Charles Darwin University’s Faculty of Science and Technology and an expert in machine learning, said these jobs would be the first to disappear.
Retail workers (pictured) will be among the first to lose their jobs as AI technologies take over the workforce
Workplace technology company Service Now found that 1.3 million jobs (pictured) in Australia will be automated over the next four years
‘Jobs that rely on people following pre-existing instructions and who don’t require a lot of analytical thinking skills will be affected relatively quickly, Professor Shafiabady told me. news.com
Research from workplace technology company Service Now shows that 1.3 million jobs will be automated in Australia over the next four years, marking a major change for the workforce.
These are the top three jobs likely to be replaced by AI and the jobs likely to be protected from the technology.
Office support
Administrative jobs will very easily be replaced by AI, with employees such as secretaries and those who perform administrative tasks being affected by the technology.
Other roles that will bear the brunt of these machine learning tools include bookkeeping, bookkeeping, payroll, and data entry.
Professor Shafiabady, who has researched the industries susceptible to massive disruption caused by AI, said call center workers will almost certainly be made redundant.
“The tasks for these types of jobs can be replicated by an AI computer system, so it will be moved,” she said.
Receptionists in GP practices are also among the office support roles expected to be taken over by advanced computer systems, with the number of available jobs likely to decline in the coming years.
The World Economic Forum predicted in a report last year that there will be 26 million fewer administrative positions worldwide by 2027.
Professor Niusha Shafiabady (pictured) said administrative jobs could easily be replaced by AI technologies
Retail services (pictured) will be heavily impacted by AI, with a quarter of all retail jobs cut by 2027
Customer service and sales
The retail and sales industries will also be heavily impacted by AI.
Service Now and workforce technology experts Pearson found that by 2027, almost a quarter of retail jobs in Australia will disappear due to technology.
This equates to 323,000 full-time workers who will remain unemployed as companies switch to cheaper alternatives.
AI technologies are cheap and can be easily integrated into the workforce, making the systems a viable option for businesses.
Food services
Restaurants and fast food chains are already using AI technology to take customer orders and recommend menu items.
The sector is also dominated by food delivery apps and platforms such as UberEats and Deliveroo.
These platforms have outsourced several jobs in the foodservice sector, with the technologies helping the food industry generate more than $44 billion in revenue in 2021.
Figures from McKinsey show that 13 percent of employees working in the foodservice sector in 2022 will be forced to look for a new job due to automation.
Workers employed by restaurants and fast food chains (pictured) have already been disrupted by AI technologies as the food sector braces for more change
The jobs that are safe
Jobs that involve manual labor, such as mining, are more likely to fend off the threat of AI.
It is unlikely that masons, painters and supervisors who mainly work in the construction sector and perform labor-intensive work will be replaced by machine learning technologies.
Professor Shafiabady said designing and then integrating AI technologies to replace workers in these industries will be difficult.
“The fact is that the cost of hiring a construction worker role globally, compared to manufacturing and maintaining a robot to do the same, means this type of role is unlikely to be replaced any time soon,” she said.
The Future of Jobs Survey conducted in 2023 by the World Economic Forum confirmed these findings.
Craftsmen (pictured) and construction workers are unlikely to see their jobs affected by AI
The results of the study showed that craftsmen, mechanics and those who operate heavy machinery are at low risk of being replaced by AI.
As companies dive deep into the world of AI, many jobs advertised by companies on platforms such as networking site LinkedIn are looking for workers skilled in AI applications.
There is a strong demand for people with technical qualifications to work as data scientists or software engineers.
Professor Shafiabady urged parents of young children and those trying to crack the workforce to evaluate their career options as many jobs that will be replaced by AI may not exist for long.