With artificial intelligence causing ripples in the job market, most careers are facing changes that are impacting the need for mental labor and active involvement. Due to this, fields like computer science anticipate changes in the types of positions offered.
As developments continue to occur, many students are unsure of what job opportunities they might have in the future. Since AI is able to write code, some like AP Computer Science teacher Rupali Satija believe that software is most at risk if students do not have advanced understanding of what goes into technology.
“They (careers in software) are changing a lot. They are not dumb programming but actually thinking about the algorithm and verifying the code,” Satija said. “Students not knowing programming will not be able to check it for sure and (if) they don’t have algorithm skills and critical thinking skills, that won’t help.”
Although AI may have a hand in disbanding some prior positions, sophomore Ruhi Kelkar reflected on how job openings may be created within computer science to create AI models.
“AI has made it a little tough for people majoring in computer science to find a job, but… something will come up eventually. The people who write the (AI) models or the people who create the models, that’s kind of where you can stand out,” Kelkar said.
Many starter positions are also at risk of being replaced by AI. For example, some self-checkout kiosks have already implemented algorithms to maximize customer experience, putting cashiers in danger of termination. Freshman Mathew Liu believes that automation is meant to increase efficiency.
“AI could take over automated jobs,” Liu said. “They’re more cost-efficient than regular workers over time, leading to companies relying on AI rather than using human workers.”
Unlike Liu, freshman Anushka Ashok questioned the extent AI is actually able to take jobs.
“I don’t think it’ll take over any jobs. From my knowledge, it’s just used as organization tools to record things,” Ashok said. “Everything should mostly come from humans, just to avoid mistakes and misinformation.”
Though AI is already affecting software and some entry-level jobs, Kelkar feels that medicine will be less impacted by it.
“It can be assisted with AI, like with diagnostic tools, but AI can’t physically replace someone in the medical field because I don’t think that AI has the proper (skills),” Kelkar said. “For example, if AI was a scientist, AI can’t physically have scientific knowledge and do the scientific processes.”
Similar to Kelkar, Liu observed that algorithms like ChatGPT or Google Gemini will never be perfect. Due to AI being a man-made program, it can mess up, so humans will always be necessary to check AI for errors.
“You shouldn’t have an over-dependence on AI. You should always still have your own reliance,” Liu said. “If AI does make mistakes, it would be very crucial that people can detect these mistakes or else there’d be larger mistakes later on.”
Mistakes can include discrimination in evaluating and assigning prices for items like plane tickets or insurance, according to Satija.
“It (AI) makes work faster, but in reality, the data taken to create AI is from the community, so whatever the pitfalls of the community are, those will still show up,” Satija said. “The same thing goes for health insurance. Based on a certain community, they may get more expensive results versus the other ones. Based on your background, you may have to pay more rent.”
As AI enters the job market, careers may change in unpredictable ways. Though some students may be forced to rethink their career paths, there are still chances for new and improved careers to open up.
“Before the internet, there was a lot of rumors that it will take over and all people will lose jobs. So with AI, it will again change the way people work, but I won’t believe that the human race will not survive,” Satija said. “It’s a new technology coming. We need to learn to adopt it and learn how to use it carefully and at the same time protect ourselves.”