3 Reasons AI Won’t Replace You: Should you stop worrying?

When I was a child, there were long discussions about whether computers would replace workers. It did not happen. Instead, 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.

Now, every time I tune into a radio, TV, or social media channel, a story about the AI revolution appears. Even Captain Sully, the airline pilot who famously landed his jet on the Hudson River has opined about AI.

So, will you be downsized and replaced by an AI? Here are some reasons we don’t think that will happen:

1. Technology has created jobs in the past,
2. AI makes workers more effective, and
3. Workers can serve customers better.

Revolutionary change may help you serve your customers better, work smarter, and even speed your commute and business travel.

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 they were supplanted by much smaller and 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 Many of those revolutionary PC applications have been replaced by software programs that run online “in the clouds” and on smartphones.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 exist today 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.

The rise of World Wide Web technology offers a more general 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. And the pattern has been repeated since Apple invented the smartphone. Job postings for mobile app developers fill LinkedIn and other popular career Web sites.

As a result, it is hard to imagine that the AI revolution will follow a different path.

 AI makes workers more effective.

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 route is 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 timely while reducing flight times and delays.

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.

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, 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.

Concluding comments It’s still early in the AI revolution, so we cannot say for certain that this technology 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.