Cover image: Provided by www.shrm.org.

First of all, AI is currently only taking very niche, very specific jobs. Mainstream news and clickbait will tell you that the hundreds of thousands of cut jobs in the last year are due to AI.

Actual reporting and research is not confirming this as of yet.

A poll from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a global outplacement firm, reported 64,789 job cuts in April. A lot of jobs are being cut, that is true in comparison to the last 20,000 or so from last April. However, only 800 (1.2%) were attributed to AI.

Unless AI makes additional and unexpected jumps in cognitive and processing ability, this is a more likely reality – a large redistribution of jobs as certain tasks in the workforce.

“Back in my day”

“Computer” was a job title, often held by women. NASA is widely known for employing dozens of women in an endeavor to calculate the complexities of moon trajectories and rocket propulsion. You likely knew this if you’ve ever seen the movie Hidden Figures. As computers entered the office and home, this workforce had time to move their skills onto the screens.

Our modern grappling with AI is different. Digital computers took decades to develop. You could go to college and exit with very applicable knowledge. Think about the freshmen of 2020 that are graduating now. How many AI skills were schools able to give them?

AI Likely WILL Take Your Tasks, Not Jobs

It may not take your job entirely but it will take your tasks. The “easy work” is on the chopping block -copy/pasting, translating, converting, calculating in a spreadsheet, summarizing a document, and similar tasks. That’s the kind of work that ChatGPT and other enterprise AI are currently disrupting. If those tasks are the only thing you do, then yes, you should be concerned.

Before 2024, I’d have told you that’s where it ends. Unfortunately, OpenAI announced AI video Sora and AI robots called Figure. It looks like AI is permeating far more than we expected in very visual and physical ways.

Manufacturing and Automation

Robots have been a critical part of manufacturing. Mazda Toyota has dozens of robots working alongside humans. These long arm-like robots are incredibly precise and far faster than a human. They only work because the programming of the machine has largely been based on a complex system of camera and choreography. It all comes to a halt with any major variation and it requires humans to tackle the issue.

Advanced robotics and machine learning algorithms are enhancing productivity and precision in manufacturing processes. There are still a lot of people walking and working in a car factory. With robots who could walk, talk, carry, and follow tasks could lead to a reduction in demand for certain manual and repetitive jobs.

Remember the cute little robot dog from Boston Dynamics? Yeah, it can go read meters and review machines now with Orbit.

Enhancing Healthcare Services

The healthcare sector in Huntsville is set to benefit immensely from AI innovations. AI-powered diagnostic tools, predictive analytics, and personalized medicine COULD transform patient care. Due to the economics and legalities of medical care, you likely won’t have a robot doctor any time soon, nor will most medical professionals lose their whole jobs.

Now if your job is to read charts, like radiology, maybe you should be a little concerned. The FDA has approved over 500 radiology related algorithms for eventual use on patients. We might go from a shortage of radiologists to a surplus. Again, you’ll likely need a radiologist to confirm a reading but at a much faster and scaled rate.

This is one area for which I’m most hopeful for positive impact. We’ve been suffering from a huge shortage of medical professionals across the U.S. Many in Huntsville will complain of this due to our explosive growth outpacing the medical talents we have pulled in. Better access to healthcare is often cited as a goal for almost any political or non-profit entity. This kind of technology could democratize what many believe should be a human right.

Boosting the Aerospace and Defense Industries

Huntsville’s aerospace and defense sectors, already tech-intensive, must accept the integration of AI technologies. There’s a 20,000+ word legal document called the “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” mandating this reality. The government is directing that we lean in. AI is the new moon and we need to beat China this time. Russia is a bit distracted…

AI will enhance areas such as satellite communications, autonomous drones, and cybersecurity. For example, predictive maintenance systems powered by AI will allow for real-time monitoring of aerospace equipment, reducing downtime and increasing operational efficiency.

Government contractors here will swear up and down that AI is not allowed in their office. Who runs the software on their computers? Who owns a major portion of OpenAI? Yep. Microsoft.

If you know what www.Sam.gov is then you are in government contracting. There are 65 contracts with explicit requirements for AI available for bid. Hundreds more seem to have mentioned it as well. What happens to Huntsville if we don’t have enough AI talent to tackle the increasing percentage of contracts that will require AI skills?

Preparing for the Future of Working in Huntsville

We are doing something about that. Check out my previous articles on the AI Task Force. As AI reshapes the job market in Huntsville, collaboration between industry, academia, and government will be crucial. Investing in education and training programs to reskill the existing workforce and prepare future generations is essential. Initiatives such as workforce reskilling, AI-integrated degrees, venture investment, and partnerships between tech companies and educational institutions will play a pivotal role in this transformation. That way, we can all keep a job, even if it’s not like the one you used to have.

AI has changed my job a lot, but I constantly research and try new things. For every person I meet, I tell them this is the best strategy. Read articles like this. Try new programs. Take free or affordable training courses. I have 150+ hours of training that has cost less than $500 total. You can do it too, feel free to ask me on Linkedin!