AI Job Replacement Fears Are Good. Here's Why.

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Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, has taken the world by storm. Regardless of its potential impact, AI is also one of the most controversial topics ever. One of the driving motivators for those who are intimidated by AI is the threat that it will eliminate their job. This is understandable. Nobody wants to lose their bread and butter. Particularly to a software-based algorithm with no face in which to kick sand.

I'm going to take a contrarian perspective here: I think the threat of losing one's job because of AI is good. Why? Because it keeps us on our toes. Hear me out before you swipe left.

If competition from AI intimidates IT professionals and knowledge workers, perhaps it will motivate them to improve their skills, tune up their social media, and embrace emerging tech. All with the goal of maintaining validity in increasingly competitive market segments dominated by technology and globalization. I mean, that's a good thing, right?

Competition is Good

Americans have anthropomorphically represented AI from many different perspectives. Paranoid doomers imagine that it will transmogrify into an army of red-eyed Skynet robots from the Terminator film franchise. Meanwhile, hyperactive fanboys paint a picture of impossibly utopian benefits where people lounge on the beach while sipping pina coladas and directing AI agents to perform their work.

Both are fringe perspectives held mostly by zealots; neither is likely to come to fruition. There, I said it. I'm a moderate when it comes to AI and the role of technology in business. One of my "Eight Pillars of Technical Writing" is objectivity, after all. And I'm no good to you if I'm drunk on the proverbial Kool-Aid.

Yes, AI will be highly disruptive. And yes, in the course of that disruption, it will replace some jobs (that's why it's called disruption). But the urban legends regarding how AI will overtake society in some Hollywood-inspired armageddon rife with Austrian-accented cyborgs is nothing more than fear mongering when taken too seriously—or great action adventure entertainment when not.

The Real Competition

As a few AI thought leaders have pointed out in recent articles and posts, the real competition for a knowledge worker's job isn't AI, but rather a human competitor who is really good at using AI. Better than you, at least.

Use of AI can produce draft articles that require 30 minutes of editing, not two or three hours of development. AI-based image generators, such as Adobe Firefly, DALL-E, and Ideogram only sweeten the deal for any IT pro or creator. I now produce stylized title slides, photographs, and charts using solely AI. I have pretty much abandoned stock photography and my private photo collection because of the precision with which I can include thematic elements in AI-generated images.

There's no hyperbole in saying that IT pros who have at least basic AI experience will, in many use cases, outperform those who lack such skills. Overnight, this is changing the job market. Hiring agents are now seeking knowledge workers like software developers and technical writers who can use AI to be two to three times more productive than their non-AI using peers. If your resume lacks mention of AI tools, you're already at a competitive disadvantage.

Good Luck

Good luck not losing your job to AI. I'm rooting for you; you can survive the disruption! But a doomer attitude or visions of a utopian future won't help you. What will? I recommend getting as much time behind the wheel of popular AI tools such as Google Gemini, Meta AI, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI, and X's Grok. Don't wait for your boss or a client to drag you into the world of AI. Self starters will effectively promote their careers with the help of these powerful efficiency tools.

Yes, I do have to admit: You might lose your job to AI. But it won't be an AI-powered robot that steals it. Rather, it will be Susan from Accounting and her embrace of AI tools to be more efficient and productive than you.

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But that's just my opinion. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

— Curt Robbins, Senior Technical Writer

*All images in this article were created with Ideogram 2.

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