Is AI Really Coming for Your Job?

There's a famous line in Jurrasic Park where Dr. Ian Malcolm, played by Jeff Goldblum, says about the resurrection of dinosaurs:

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

Sometimes I think we'll look back in a few years and say the same thing about Artificial Intelligence (AI).

There's no doubt that advancements in AI are accelerating at a dizzying pace, and it's insidiously infiltrating every facet of society.

By now, most of us use LLMs to be more efficient at work.

Taco Bell uses AI to take orders — and does surprisingly well! (Don't ask me how I know 😉)

A couple months ago, I posted this video of a robot painting the lines on the football field at my son's school.

I could give more examples, but I think you get the idea.

The bottom line is, AI is everywhere, and there's no putting the genie back in the bottle.

The million-dollar question is what all of this means in practical terms for you, and in particular for your job security.

If you read the headlines, a lot of the recent layoffs we're seeing are attributed to AI. Is that true? Or is the role of AI in rising unemployment overblown? What types of industries are most susceptible to AI? Is your job safe?

I recently had a fascinating conversation about all of this with Jess Love, CEO of HomeSmiles.com. You can watch it here:

Jess and I touch on a lot of topics in this conversation, including:

• The current state of the economy
• The impact of AI on the general workforce marketplace
• What Jess is hearing from his Silicon Valley friends about where AI is heading and the industries most likely to be impacted
• Why Home Services provides a level of insulation from AI and is an appealing landing spot for a lot of mid-career executives pivoting away from Corporate
• Advice about how to overcome the fear of making a significant change like stepping into entrepreneurship after working for someone else for so many years
• And more

I think one of the most important things Jess says, and what I want to encourage you with here, is around the ~6:25 mark.

He is talking about how the legal profession is being decimated by AI, how many other seemingly-untouchable industries are being impacted similarly, and then he says: If your head is buried in the sand when it comes to AI, it's time to take a step back, sit on a park bench somewhere, and think deeply about your current profession and how it might be affected by AI — and whether or not it's time to make a change before it's too late.

That's not fear-mongering. It's sound, prudent advice from someone who is living it, day-in and day-out.

If you're realizing that it is time to make a change, rest assured that there are plenty of good landing spots where humans are still necessary. 

I was talking about this with a client this week, and he said that the advice he's been giving his kids as they're moving toward the start of their own careers is to "pick something that requires your presence."

I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb.