When a groundbreaking solution to a problem is found, it transforms into a skill the world craves. At first, many people may not know about it, and most are focused on learning skills that offer job security and better pay.
Since there isn’t much information about new job trends, only a few interested individuals decide to learn the skill. As the solution becomes more popular and shows its usefulness for specific problems, the skill grows in demand, making the job more popular and increasing awareness.
At this point, the job is at peak popularity. Lots of people try to learn the skill to land a job and get highly paid. But as more people learn this skill, the demand drops a lot since there’s a constant supply beyond what’s needed. And businesses will start looking for cheaper alternatives for the best talent to increase their profit margin.
Lastly, the demand for a specific skill or job can go down because of new technology. Companies hire and pay people because they want to get their job done. If they can save money and pay only a small part of the price to get the same task done with machines or software, they’ll do it to improve their profit margin.
Jobs offering solutions to businesses and society will persist as long as the problems they address exist. AI won’t eliminate these jobs completely, but it will significantly reduce their value by contributing to the high supply. This will lessen the demand for human labor in specific tasks.
When people say AI won’t replace their jobs, they might be partly correct. AI may not fully replace their jobs, but it will certainly affect the demand for their work. As a result, these jobs will no longer be as secure or well-paid as they once were.
However, there’s another perspective on this: AI can be viewed as having a symbiotic relationship with humans. Sure, it may reduce the demand for specific jobs by automating them or lowering entry barriers. But those who can become much more efficient or get 10X more work done using AI will continue to thrive.
Think of it like this: when cars were invented, they didn’t completely wipe out the horsecart business. Over time, cars and motorcycles offered more attractive solutions, drawing people away from horse carts. This didn’t completely put horse riders out of jobs; they just needed to learn skills that provided modern solutions. If they only stuck to what they knew, then yes, their jobs would be taken over by AI. Moreover, the technology always improves over time. Until new tech becomes reliable enough, adoption rates will be lower.
Currently, AI trends and adoption rates in the knowledge worker industry are higher than ever. It’s not just about what AI software can do now; it’s about how exponentially they’re improving and getting better. As these new technologies become more affordable, businesses will adopt them to increase profits, and history has proven this to be true.