3 Reasons AI Is not Replacing You: An Important Update for Jobseekers.

Once again last week, my attention focused on the question of whether AI is costing jobs. Back in September 2024, I wrote my first major post on this issue since the pandemic. Today, I am updating that post with information that could surprise you.

When I was a child, there were long discussions about whether computers would replace workers. It did not happen. In fact, according to Andrew Ross Sorkin, in an MS-NBC interview last week, the unemployment rate went down between 1963 and 1969. Those of us who grew up during that time may remember that the computer industry created untold numbers and kinds of jobs. Subsequently, the rise of personal computing, commercialization of the Internet and World Wide Web, and the smartphone also created countless career opportunities.

Stories about the AI revolution continue to be ubiquitous in the media. Last year, even Captain Suly, the airline pilot who famously landed his jet on the Hudson River opined about AI.

But the question persists. Will you be downsized and replaced by an AI? Here are the reasons we don’t think that will happen:

1. Technology has created jobs in the past,
2. AI increases workers’ productivity, and
3. Workers can serve customers better.

We recognize that some readers have, in fact, been laid off at companies with leaders who think they can replace them with “agentic AI” or other technologies. But analytic evidence suggests this will not be a predominant job market trend. Here’s why.

New technology historically creates jobs.

Workers have feared every new technology since the industrial revolution. French workers reportedly threw “sabots” into mechanical looms because they thought these machines would replace them. Workers watched with trepidation during the 1960s as large “mainframe” computers began taking over repetitive clerical tasks such as payroll and bookkeeping. And then the experts that ran those huge and complicated machines began to worry in the 1980s as mainframe computers were supplanted by smaller user-friendly personal computers.

The changes haven’t ended there. Many of those revolutionary PC applications have been replaced by software programs that run online “in the clouds” and on smartphones.

But are there armies of unemployed workers in the streets who have been displaced by computers and newer technologies that have been built on the computer revolution’s foundations? Although some argue that the unemployment rate is higher than it should be, the answer is “no.” Instead, according to a September 2, 2024 Boston Globe article, 60% of the job titles that existed last year did not exist in 1940. As an example, my father, a merchant-marine radiotelegraph operator starting around 1940—became a computer room operations supervisor in the 1960s. He spent much of his post-war career with the same company. His job changed, but it did not go away.

Andrew Ross Sorkin pointed out in his recent MS-NBC interview that there were about 400,000 telephone operators in1970. Most of us never speak to a telephone operator today, yet massive unemployment has not occurred.

The rise of World Wide Web technology offers another example. There were no Web designers in 1989, when Tim Berners-Lee developed the first Web browser. Now, millions of people work in the field.

Today, one of the fastest growing job titles, according to data analytics on bloomberry.com is Machine Learning Engineer. According to Bloomberry, “1 job title is absolutely exploding: machine learning engineers saw postings surge 40% from 2024 to 2025 – the single biggest increase of any role. That’s on top of a 78% increase in 2024”. Machine learning is the arcane technical discipline software engineers must master to make AI work.

As a result, it is hard to imagine that the AI revolution will follow a different job-creating path than other technological revolutions.

 AI makes workers more productive.

Artificial intelligence apps appear to make work more efficient and effective, rather than replacing workers. For example, an AI app makes route planning easier for transportation companies and improved weather forecasting for airlines.

Tim Styer, CEO of Ride to Work, LLC, told me his team uses Google Gemini to plan routes for drivers who pick up multiple workers and drive them to their jobs. The task now takes much less time—and most importantly, the AI gets the route right. Both the transportation routes are efficient, and the time it takes to plan the route is much shorter.

AI software has also improved aviation weather forecasting without eliminating the role of an experienced meteorologist. Captain Sully Sullenberger pointed out in his LinkedIn article that AI is good at making forecasts based on historical patterns but cannot necessarily predict unprecedented or extremely rare weather events. As a result, the skilled weather forecaster is still essential. But forecasts have become more accurate and timelier while reducing flight times and delays.

The current US Presidential Administration has tried to downsize the National Weather Service by eliminating meteorology technicians and meteorologists with the result, some experts believe that storm warnings have been less timely and less accurate. If accurate, this will bear out Captain Sully’s observation that human judgement is still essential in this field.

A few examples do not, of course, prove that AI makes work more efficient for everyone. But it does suggest the potential for this technology. The evidence, to date, says that while AI improves productivity, it does not replace human judgement.

Workers can serve customers better.

Businesses make money by serving more customers in less time. Satisfied customers generate repeat business. According to the Boston Globe article and the more recent Bloomberry post, AI apps allow call centers to do both. Specifically, the software helps call center reps find answers more rapidly, so they greatly reduce their average “time-on-call.” The reps answer more calls per hour. Additionally, finding the right answer more rapidly improves customer satisfaction.

All of us hate waiting on hold for a call center rep to pick up the phone. When the same number of reps answer more calls, the center reduces wait time markedly.

An AI can also speak any language, even when the reps are not multilingual. Customer satisfaction is also increased when the rep uses an AI to speak with customers in their own language.

In other words, at least some companies are using AI to increase customer satisfaction and profitability without reducing their workforce.

According to Bloomberry, customer service reps are still essential for more complicated calls. Only people can show empathy and make exceptions to rules.

Concluding comments

The evidence to date is that AI and machine learning will be a net job creator. Historical trends suggest that this will happen. Anecdotal evidence indicates that AI is helping some businesses do more with the same number of employees. Fears of massive AI-driven layoffs could be overblown. None of our observations will help you feel better if your government agency or corporation has eliminated your job because they believe you can be replaced with an AI driven by a machine learning algorithm. But this approach appears to be shortsighted. The best jobs require human judgement to offer the best service!