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Topics: Artificial intelligence, Technology, Jobs
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Artificial intelligence, Technology, Jobs
Bill Gates has predicted which three jobs he thinks will be safe from artificial intelligence.
Whether it's the technology replacing actors or even a woman falling in love with an AI octopus boyfriend, artificial intelligence seems to be coming for us all.
While you may think you're safe if you prefer your partners to be less tentacle-y and more, well, human, a rising concern for many is whether AI could take over our jobs.
Whether it be copywriters, telephone operators or data entry clerks, AI appears to be well on its way to take over several roles.
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A YouGov poll commissioned by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) found that 53 percent of employees believe it's likely automation or AI will affect their occupation in the next decade. Meanwhile, 32 percent think it is unlikely.
And according to Microsoft founder and tech billionaire Bill Gates, there are only three professions which stand a good chance of coming out of the battle against AI fairly unscathed.
But will yours make the cut?
While AI can certainly serve as a useful tool in helping biologists advance medicine, Gates doesn't think it runs the risk of taking over completely, according to the Economic Times.
AI may be smart and adaptable, but it doesn't hold the same ability to understand the same complex biological systems in the same way a biologist can.
Nor can it think with human creativity or intuition as to how to process the data and come up with new avenues of research.
Science relies a lot on human judgement and well, AI isn't and can't ever have that.
Bet you're wishing you paid a bit more attention in your biology classes now, eh?
And there's another science-related role which Gates believes is probably safe too.
Alongside requiring human judgement given how complex it is, whether oil, nuclear or renewable, the decisions required when it comes to energy are very high-stakes given the safety risks which could occur should something not go to plan.
Global energy demands remain unpredictable too. No matter how adaptable AI is, humans remain better when it comes to managing ever-changing scenarios and crisis management.
And no matter how trustworthy artificial intelligence becomes, it could never replace the word of a human.
Last but never least, a job which is pretty self-explanatory in how AI could never really replace the human currently doing the role is that of an AI coder.
While AI can now create code itself, it wouldn't exist in the first place without the people behind it.
Gates believes AI can never replace human coders because what would happen if the AI glitched? Bugged? Or broke down?
Well, it would need a human to come and pick up the pieces.
In a 2025 report, Microsoft highlighted the 40 occupations that are 'most at risk' of overlap, ranked from highest to lowest. These include:
However, it's worth noting that senior Microsoft researcher, Kiran Tomlinson, told Sky News' Money team that the study 'explores which job categories can productively use AI chatbots, not take away or replace jobs'.