Will AI Replace “Your” Job?

Author(s): Sophia Banton

Originally published on Towards AI.

Every generation wrestles with at least one great truth.

Headlines claim AI will replace jobs. Tech companies have made dramatic cuts to their talent pools to invest in AI. AI tools are flooding the enterprise. The role of AI in preparing the next generation of higher education graduates is sparking passionate debates, as these tools enter classrooms.

Many people are left wondering: how does this affect me? Or to put it differently, will AI take my job?

The answer may not be what you want to hear. But before answering it, let’s consider what exactly AI would be replacing and why?

Beyond “Boring Tasks”

The default argument is that AI would replace “boring tasks”. I would love to meet the person who first coined that sentiment. Boring is, after all, subjective. Nonetheless, the idea is practical: AI should replace the parts of work that don’t excite workers.

This includes checking and writing emails, scheduling meetings, or writing yearly objectives. But those cases aren’t automation, they’re assistance for knowledge workers. To really address this particular claim, we need to step away from the cubicle or desk.

How Business Models Change

Consider this. McDonald’s restaurants once featured spacious dining areas with play areas, alongside their drive-thrus. Have you noticed lately that many have become pick-up locations for DoorDash and Uber Eats, with very small seating areas if any, and counters barely used? And as for the drive-thru, that ordering process is increasingly handled through humanless interactions as chains like Taco Bell and Wendy’s explore AI-powered drive-thrus to cut labor costs and improve efficiency.

Now think back to a recent experiment carried out by Anthropic, where Claude AI was asked to simulate the role of a vending machine business manager. Do you see the parallel? So the question isn’t if AI will replace these roles, it’s when.

So it’s not boring tasks like taking orders that are being replaced; it’s a complete restructuring of business models.

Knowledge Work and Productivity

Now let’s return to the desk.

In the office, the focus has been on increasing employee productivity, which has sent mixed signals to workers. If I’m being asked to be more productive, does that mean my job is safe?

Not at all. Productivity is not the same as necessity.

The great misconception at the desk is that AI only competes on speed, hence automating tasks. What many don’t realize is that AI is also competing at the level of domain expertise. To put it plainly, your entire college education is now accessible via prompts to an AI model.

The Challenge of Specialized Knowledge

As a knowledge worker, your specialization was your expertise. But how will you compete with AI that has been trained on a corpus of your entire discipline?

You will not. And this is where the restructuring of the business model in office work comes into play.

Analytics Workflow Transformation

Consider typical analytics and visualization workflows today. The analytics teams process company data and generate reports, then analysts hand them over to business professionals who present them via slide decks to senior leadership. That entire workflow can be replaced with Copilot.

If Copilot has access to company data, executives including the CEO can ask Copilot to recreate the report with charts, plots, and even interactive figures. The tools can generate PDFs, Word docs, Excel files, and PowerPoint decks. If you’ve scoffed at their quality, remember: these tools are improving fast.

That entire middle layer, from data processing to report generation to presentation design, has effectively collapsed.

Coordination and Relationship-Building Roles

So we’ve seen customer service and analytics workflows as examples facing significant transformation. But what about other roles in which humans coordinate and build relationships?

Nowhere is it more evident that AI will replace knowledge work than it is with the job market.

Today resumes are being written by AI, screened by AI, and reviewed by AI. Resume writers and hiring professionals including recruiters are being sidelined. A hiring manager can easily give 100 resumes to ChatGPT and say “rank the candidates and provide charts to justify your findings.”

When it comes to coordination, we shouldn’t be surprised. Not so long ago, travel agents were the connectors between us and our vacations. The internet and price optimization algorithms have long replaced most agents, making the profession one that caters to niche markets, and in that model, we get a glimpse of our futures.

Just as the travel agent workforce shrank drastically, so will others. So it’s not just about specialization. There will be significantly reduced demand.

Tasks and Knowledge Combined

AI is both doer and thinker.

The travel agent profession shows what happens when technology replaces both tasks (like searching for flights and booking hotels) and knowledge, such as knowing where to visit, what to see, and where to eat. The travel agent did the tasks and possessed the knowledge.

Automation made it easier for us to travel. Travel packages arrived in our inboxes, and review systems helped us choose destinations, removing our reliance on travel agents. The average traveler has probably never interacted with a travel agent among younger generations. Need a summary of a travel destination? Perplexity AI can generate a summary.

The Pattern Repeats

The travel agent transformation isn’t unique. We’re seeing this same pattern across industries.

Consider McDonald’s business model restructuring. AI replaces the task of ordering, while also knowing the menu.

Now consider analytics. AI replaces the tasks of analyzing data and organizing the results, while also having access to company data as well as market trends and insights.

Consider the hiring process. AI writes and screens resumes, while also having access to job listings and company reviews on sites like Glassdoor. Need a summary of a candidate? AI search can do that.

AI is both doer and thinker.

A Concrete Example

If you’re still not convinced that AI will disrupt the economy and workforce, consider this. Do you think Zillow’s business model of flipping homes and estimating property values would fail in 2025, given today’s tools? Absolutely not. And that’s a signal to the real estate industry that AI is going to upend things there as well. By the way, when I purchased my home in 2020, I used Zillow. One agent. Closed in weeks.

Today, Zillow has access to AI that can handle real-time market analysis and property valuation. They also have access to AI image and video generation tools to create content for their listings. They can use AI agents for practically everything from scheduling and conducting AI-assisted tours to buying and selling homes.

Zillow wouldn’t fail today… and it won’t.

AI is both doer and thinker.

Your Homework

I’m neither an AI dystopian nor AI evangelist. I’m an AI professional and part-time AI anthropologist. I’ve seen the challenges even for AI professionals navigating these equally unnerving and exciting times.

There is immense creative potential in AI: productivity gains, new tools for building, and opportunities to explore ideas in novel ways. But the economy and thus the workforce will have to be restructured to adapt to our new reality.

Here’s what you do.

Take your job and break it down into its key tasks and knowledge requirements. Rank each from 1 (low automation risk) to 3 (high risk). Then ask: can I specialize like travel agents did? Or do I need to evolve?

Some real examples:

• Educator: Lectures (3), Grading (3), Mentorship (1)
• Analyst: Data Cleaning (3), Client Interpretation (2), Strategic Planning (1) •
• Coder: CRUD Automation (3), Framework Design (2), Innovation (1) •
• Writer: SEO Content (3), Narrative Crafting (2), Investigative Reporting (1)

Full disclosure: I am not a fan of presenting roles created for the oversight of AI tasks as the solution. I believe humans need autonomy and the ability to create and lead to thrive. And if that’s not the world we’re building, then we’re misguided in our pursuit of happiness with AI as our copilot.

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About the Author

Sophia Banton is an AI leader focused on innovation and the human impact of emerging technologies. Drawing from her background in bioinformatics, public health, and data science, she brings a practical perspective to deploying AI solutions across industries.

Beyond technical applications, Sophia actively explores GenAI’s creative potential, particularly in storytelling and media production. Through short-form video experimentation, she tests how emerging models can reshape narrative, communication, and visual expression, demonstrating AI’s versatility in both analytical and creative domains.

Connect with her on LinkedIn or explore more AI insights on Medium.

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Published via Towards AI