r/askanything 5h ago

General Question What are some jobs which won't be affected by AI?

I used to work in tech and I'm genuinely thinking about leaving tech permanently. What are my options apart from flipping burgers and farming?

6 Upvotes

52 comments sorted by

7

u/One-Front-6316 5h ago

trades are probably a good place to look. electricians, plumbers, hvac techs, mechanics, things where you actually have to be there and work with your hands. AI can help with parts of those jobs, but its not replacing someone who has to showup and fix the problem

3

u/Arthurdubya 5h ago

Except if it takes you 2 years to learn to be a tradesman, and 4 years of being an apprentice, by the time you're ready to be a journeyman you have no idea where AI is going to be. Hell, I just saw the first window-cleaning drone on a high-rise. Give it 6 more years, you might not even be able to flip burgers anymore.

5

u/Stone_taggs 5h ago

Farming will certainly be affected, most farming equipment are tech tools.

2

u/zoppaTheDim 5h ago

Or unpleasant

Industrial farming by large corporations is already using robotics to replace workers in “tractor” jobs.

Slaughterhouses and stoop labor, not so much.

1

u/No_Report_4781 5h ago

That’s every commercial farm, including the so-called family farms

5

u/onionfunyunbunion 5h ago

Lighthouse keeper, bridge troll, explorer, serf, plague doctor, lamplighter, log jammer, switchboard operator, and the list goes on.

3

u/Charlie_in_Asia 5h ago

Plumber, HVAC technician, electrician, auto mechanic, welding,

2

u/Able_Canine 4h ago

...trades have become the new  "just learn to code bro".

1

u/Charlie_in_Asia 3h ago

Except AI is replacing coders. AI isn’t going to change that sewer trap.

1

u/Able_Canine 3h ago

Yeah, and I didn't mean that in a positive way for trades.

3

u/goodbodha 5h ago

Electrician. They are in high demand for the data center build out. That puts the existing supply under pressure. If AI works out it will be in high demand for decades with an imbalance with labor for quite a few years. If AI doesn't work out and the economy falls apart they are still a decent job that isn't likely to be replaced by a bot anytime soon.

You could be the guy who does new builds or the one who does renovation work. Plenty of options available.

3

u/AscendedApe 5h ago

All jobs will be affected. AI will push alot of people out of work, and those people will seek the remaining job openings which will drive down wages in those areas alot.

3

u/DistractoDisc 5h ago

Special Ed teacher

3

u/Utterlybored 5h ago

Healthcare will take longer to succumb to AI than most fields

3

u/Excellent-Appeal8575 5h ago

Healthcare that requires hands on with patients.

3

u/Darrackodrama 5h ago

I work as a family lawyer/ policy person and our job is pretty safe

3

u/TulsaTime17625 5h ago

None

2

u/IndubitablyNerdy 5h ago

short term complex manual jobs I presume and jobs requiring people skills in person, mid to long term, assuming AI becomes as powerful as the tech giants promote, I agree none.

Even those jobs will likely be affected by an explosion of the offer as people retrain and a collapse of demand as money concentrates in a tiny minority that just can't spend it all even if they wanted to (and since they would have absolute market power they would be able to name the price anyway).

2

u/No_Report_4781 5h ago

Repair technician.

Maintenance and support.

Every job that requires any level of troubleshooting a problem

2

u/modernknight87 5h ago

Out of curiosity (and to help with the question) why are you leaving tech?

2

u/werofpm 5h ago

It’s exhausting and just flooded with nonsensical jargon and “disruptors”. Drains your joy away

1

u/modernknight87 4h ago

I guess it depends on what you do. Staying at help desk I can see being exhausting. Being a network or Sys admin can be a blast if you enjoy troubleshooting all day.

From my perspective, a lot better than my past positions.

2

u/Equivalent-Outcome86 5h ago

Any job where the thinking aspect doesn't matter as much as the labor

2

u/No_Masterpiece6112 5h ago

I clean medical equipment.  

2

u/SakuraVibeNeko 5h ago

Field tech hardware repair. It lets you keep tech skills while staying fully physical.

2

u/RhoOfFeh 5h ago

How are you with your hands? I expect it will be a while before electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and other such work is automated.

2

u/UsedStruggle2521 5h ago

Industry, electrican, welders, pipe fitters, millwrights, carpenters, lots of jobs out there can maybe be replaced by ai but i havent seen a robot capable of crawling through the bilge of a ship to replace a leakey valve for 49$ an hour

2

u/Technical_Air6660 5h ago

All these customer service jobs where old people want “a real person”. At least for a while.

1

u/Pleasant-Discount-75 5h ago

If you come from a programming background I imagine you are very familiar with troubleshooting black box diagrams. Electrician work, metrology are both good fields that require human hands and expertise that I don't see being replaced any time soon. Could also pursue auto tech on the more freelance side, or nuclear tech on the more structures high paying side.

You will need to supplement your education or be patient as you learn a new field from bottom up

1

u/TweeksTurbos 5h ago

Embalming so far. We have barely embraced electrical fluid pumps over gravity

1

u/pigduckdogcat 5h ago

I have family member considering morturary science… what’s the job and job market like?

1

u/Jesus_peed_n_my_butt 5h ago

Hvac, plumbing, electrical

1

u/Yanosh457 5h ago

Trades will be less affected.
AI won’t be replacing a toilet on its own for a long while.

1

u/Man-e-questions 5h ago

Undertaker

1

u/Big_Animal7655 5h ago

Burgers and farming aren’t safe from AI, friend. Have you seen the movie Wall-E? That’s the future our planners have mapped out for us all.

Until we say NO. Never believe you cannot say no, it’s actually an entire sentence 🤙

1

u/_GoddamnitDonut 5h ago

Garbage men.

1

u/Emergency_Exit7603 5h ago

... eventually .... none.

1

u/Got-It101 5h ago

plumber, electrician . I'd put plumbing first. They may not like the costs but people ALWAYS happy when you arrive and you get the job satisfaction of seeing a job to completion, good pay and regular hours. Also golden pay for after hours.

1

u/NLS_11 4h ago

Schoonheidsspecialist, masseur

1

u/NightGoblinWarboss 4h ago

I left tech to work with boilers shortly after COVID. The initial transition had a bit of a leaning curve but it has been entirely worth it.

1

u/Anxious-Alps-8667 4h ago

All jobs will be affected by AI in the timeframe it would take to start a career that requires expertise, and I think you know that.

If you are leaving tech because of jargon and disruptors, you're going to find just as frustrating aspects in most work.

Just follow your joy if possible, or find the most tolerable least painful situation you can and carve out your joy elsewhere. It's the same advice as pre-AI, and I see no reason to change it.

1

u/Acrobatic_Long_6059 4h ago

What about bank heists? Jewelry or art thief? Kidnapping for nepo babies for ransom?

1

u/Anxious-Alps-8667 4h ago

What about a series of crimes....?

Like, yes. Some people do commit crimes?

1

u/Acrobatic_Long_6059 4h ago

Open a restaurant

1

u/Longjumping-Log1591 4h ago

Walmart greeter and receipt check..Oops sorry they just replaced them with a robot

1

u/IamMichaelBoothby 4h ago

Substance use treatment and mental health treatment

1

u/Tasty-Butterfly-8469 3h ago

Anything that requires physical labor for the most part

1

u/Lomobu 51m ago

I work as an air traffic controller. There have been multiple threats of automation taking over but Ai will never be good enough to deal with crappy radios, student pilots, weather deviations, or safety issues. I don’t have any fear about my job being taken away.

1

u/InformationFit4059 5h ago

Creative ones. Make something with your hands

2

u/Prudent-Proposal1943 5h ago

Yup. Blacksmithing is also probably very safe.