Artificial Intelligence may serve it’s purpose for good, but the potential to eradicate millions of jobs all over the world is a very real (and inevitable) possibility. For the past 20 years I have made a modest living as an affiliate marketer online. I would partner with companies that manufacture products that I am interested in that I would like to sell. Then I would buy a domain, and design a website that markets to these niche products. While, I never became rich, I made a nice living writing about topics that I love and am knowledgeable about. It has allowed me to set my own hours, travel, and enjoy a wholesome and fulfilling life.
Soon, I began to see the writing on the wall about how AI could literally do a particular job as well as any human can do, and so much more quickly. While, I am just an online business owner, an independent contractor with no employees working under me, there are countless others who have already been affected negatively by AI like I have.
How AI Can Take Your Job?
In my case, I design sites that draw traffic from search engines. In fact, the majority of my traffic comes from Google. While Google relied on publishers for decades to make the internet what it is today, they threw us to the wayside the moment that a technology came out that would render us obsolete.
Will it just stop with Online Website Builders? Not hardly, AI has the ability to make many jobs obsolete and millions of others will soon find themselves in the same predicament that I am in.
Here are just a few jobs in jeopardy that AI can do much more efficiently that a human could ever hope to :
- Data entry clerks: AI can automate data entry tasks, which can make this job obsolete.
- Bookkeepers and accounting clerks: AI can perform basic accounting duties, which can make this job redundant.
- Customer service representatives: AI-powered chatbots can handle customer queries and complaints, which can make this job unnecessary.
- Market research analysts: AI can analyze data and provide insights, which can make this job redundant.
- Insurance underwriters: AI can assess risk and determine premiums, which can make this job obsolete.
- Data Analysts: AI can process vast amounts of data and identify patterns that humans might miss.
- Construction Workers: AI can assist in designing and planning structures, as well as in monitoring construction sites for safety and efficiency.
- Healthcare Professionals: AI can help in diagnosing diseases, analyzing medical images, and even in developing new drugs.
- Chefs: AI can create new recipes and even assist in cooking.
- Drivers: Self-driving cars are already on the roads and are expected to become more common in the future.
- Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI): AI is being used to automate many tasks in the financial sector, including fraud detection and risk management.
- Logistics: AI is being used to optimize supply chain management, which could lead to a reduction in the number of logistics professionals required.
- Retail: AI is being used to personalize shopping experiences and optimize inventory management, which could lead to a reduction in the number of retail workers required
- Transportation : AI can help optimize transportation networks and reduce traffic congestion.
- Marketing : AI can help marketers analyze customer data and create personalized campaigns.
These are just a few examples of the jobs that may dwindle in the near future for millions of people all around the world. Perhaps you can think of others? Almost every where you look you will see an industry where many of the employees will no longer be needed in the future.
Loss of Income
While many in my industry have noticed the warning signs on the wall, the changes were drastic and immediate. Back in August, Google changed their algorithms which pushed small online business down the listings, while being replaced with AI generated content, ADs dominating all of the premiere positions, and major sites such as Amazon and Reddit.
The loss of income has been close to 90% for me, and the majority of others are reporting the same losses. A loss of 90% of my income has left me scrambling on what to do next. It has come down to re-entering the work force, or giving it one last try to earn an income in the online marketing space.
From what I can tell, the commercial industry is what got hit the hardest. Google and other search engines seemed to implemented AI to maximize their revenue, at the expense of all the publishers who brought Google to prominence in the first place decades ago.
Starting Over as a Travel Blogger
The online industry that I see as the safest is the content developer that gets out there and shares real life experiences. This is one corner of the internet that AI will not be able to do for the foreseeable future. Artificial Intelligence can not climb a mountain, it can’t give first hand knowledge about the best hotels to stay in, incredible hidden gems around the world, photos with you meeting new friends, and embarking on new adventures.
AI can’t describe the excitement, the joy, the frustrations, and even loneliness that one may experience while out on an adventure.
There is the human experience, that AI can’t touch, reach, or describe to fellow humans. As the AI tech takes over many industries, people will crave human interaction and real life human experiences.
So, I will give this one last shot and try to be my own boss, pave my own path, and live life on my terms. Will it work? It’s hard to say, but I hope that you will join me on my adventures as take I take flight in the near future. First stop, Cambodia! I will be landing in Phnom Penh, heading to Kampot to live in a shipping container on a river, and beyond that…. I do not yet know!
Please consider Following Me on Facebook at MidLifeTravelAdventures and join me on my journey! This could be a lot of fun, or I could be coming home broke and working at the nearest McDonalds in the near future! Either way, aren’t you curious to find out?
Contact Me at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions!