Artificial intelligence wants your middle-class job

Almost half the tasks performed by Australian workers could be impacted by the approaching technological revolution.

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Will 2024 be the year artificial intelligence (AI) begins stealing the jobs of middle-class Australians? If two major reports are right, it will be. To prepare for it, Australia’s service sector workers had better start sharpening their skill sets and get ready for a job market that – for them – may quickly start transitioning into something very different from what it is now.

We’ve all heard about AI, but what exactly is it? In short, it’s the ability of a computer to perform tasks that would previously require human intelligence. That is, it’s not just about using computers to do tasks that a human would have done – that’s just automation – but performing tasks associated with traits of human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, writing, explaining, perceiving and perhaps even showing some level of creativity.

ChatGPT is probably the most widely known AI app, but all it really does is use patterns in language that it has been ‘trained’ in, so that when users ask it questions, it responds using the language associated with the question it was asked. This is why apps like ChatGPT are so effective in answering general knowledge questions, developing business proposals, essays, helping you write CVs and computer programming code.

High-risk countries

As amazing as this sounds, it’s only the start. This is why speculation is growing around how these computer applications will impact the jobs market and, by association, the education system. After all, why would you pay someone a six-figure salary to produce content that for the most part can now be generated from an AI app? And why would you need as many university-qualified people trained in these same skills?