Any time a new piece of revolutionary technology comes around, people start getting concerned that it will come for their jobs.
And in the case of ChatGPT, this fear is legitimate.
But could ChatGPT also create jobs as well? In fact, is it even possible that it creates more jobs than it replaces?
This is an interesting question to think about. In this article, I’ll discuss how ChatGPT is likely to affect the job market, the areas where it can create new jobs, and how it can compliment rather than replace members of the existing workforce.
Will ChatGPT Create Jobs? Which Jobs Will It Create?
First things first, let’s address the elephant in the room – ChatGPT and other large language models will replace jobs, as fewer employees will be needed to achieve the same level of output.
That being said, with all new technological advancements, new jobs will be created as well.
Think about it – in the past, most people were farmers. Today, that is only a very small percentage of the work force.
While the exact types of jobs created will depend on how the technology ultimately ends up getting used, we do have a few roles that are already starting to emerge. Some of these include:
1. Prompt Engineers
ChatGPT is far more complex than most people realize, and the exact way you provide instructions to it can massively affect its output.
Therefore, entire jobs have been created doing nothing more than engineering different prompts to type into ChatGPT (and models like GPT-4) in order to get the exact, ideal responses that someone is looking for.
Many people don’t realize this, but even changing a single word can affect how the AI interprets your input, and chooses its output.
Additionally, these models can be instructed to do things in extremely specific ways, that go far beyond what most people would type. It’s not uncommon for complex prompts to have an entire paragraph of instructions on exactly how the answer should be delivered.
Prompting ChatGPT is both an art and a science, and jobs have been created to try and master it.
2. AI Forensic Detectors
One problem that has been introduced by ChatGPT – and other generative AI models like Stable Diffusion (which generates images), is that it’s harder to know what is real and what is fake.
Fake news and fake media has already been a problem in the world, but it’s been amplified by the release of these generative models that can create content that’s highly believable in mere seconds.
Therefore, we now have to have experts who are trained in spotting AI-generated content, and are able to verify whether or not something was actually created by a human, or a machine.
This isn’t something we would’ve needed even just a few years ago, but now it’s quite important – especially in the legal system!
3. New AI Startups
Finally, ChatGPT and other large language models have allowed new startups to come up with entirely new products and services, that would not have been available previously.
These services may put ChatGPT at the forefront of their products, and then hire other related jobs alongside ChatGPT to help deliver the product or service.
Because this technology is still so new, it’s exciting to think about how many new companies will be created because of it.
However, we know that this is likely to lead to plenty of new small businesses that take advantage of the technology.
Outputs Still Have To Be Curated
Keep in mind that regardless of whatever a company uses ChatGPT for, its outputs still have to be curated.
ChatGPT is not 100% accurate, nor does it deliver quality responses all of the time.
Even if someone is using it to supplement their job, there will still be people needed for quality assurance – to make sure the responses are actually worth using or implementing.
This is why ChatGPT hasn’t completely replaced programmers for example, despite being excellent at writing code.
Without someone there to fact-check or verify the output that ChatGPT provides, it ultimately cannot be fully trusted.
So, even jobs that could be 100% automated likely won’t be any time soon.
ChatGPT Replaces The Lowest, And Empowers The Top Performers
Ultimately, ChatGPT will replace the people at the lower end of their jobs, while empowering the ones at the top.
What I mean is this – if someone is just starting out and isn’t highly skilled in their profession, they are vulnerable if ChatGPT is able to replace the work that they’re doing.
We’re seeing this not only in the programming space, but even in areas like blogging and creative writing as well.
Meanwhile, for those who are highly skilled at their profession, ChatGPT merely allows them to speed up the rate in which they are able to produce work.
Think about it this way – if ChatGPT can generate a lot of the work I would normally have to do manually, and all I have to do is fact check it (or make minor edits), than I am able to produce work far faster than I was able to previously.
If I were no better than ChatGPT however, an employer would have no reason to keep me on board.
So, while there are certainly risks for those in entry-level positions, ChatGPT can drastically increase the productivity of those who excel in their field.
Is This The Beginning Of The End, Though?
It’s interesting – we thought when AI would begin to take over, it would be the low-skilled, blue-collar jobs that would go first.
Things like fast food or stocking shelves at the store.
Instead, the opposite is happening – creative, white-collar jobs are put the most at risk by technology like ChatGPT or Stable Diffusion, and these are the markets that are being hit the hardest right now.
This leads us to wonder – is this the beginning of the end? Will more and more jobs get taken by AI until there is simply nothing left?
This is a question that has been pondered by AI experts for a long time.
We know that theoretically, it’s possible for AI to take over just about any job – even the ones that we’d normally want a human touch for, like serving food or therapy.
However, the question is less so ‘if’ than it is ‘when?’
ChatGPT marks a massive leap forward in AI technology. Now that AI can give off the idea that it understands language, it opens the door to many other opportunities as well.
At this point, we just have to wait for other areas – like robotics, to catch up.
Once the two combine, what jobs can’t be replaced by AI? It’s interesting to think about!
Conclusion
Although ChatGPT will surely replace some jobs, it’s already creating new jobs as well.
While not only limited to the list above, we’re sure to see entirely new career paths unfold as AI technology continues to grow in popularity.
I hope that you found this article insightful. If you have any questions about ChatGPT or other large language models, ask them below and I’ll be happy to chime in.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister