How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work

AI is here with a bang, and it is here to stay folks. People more or less know that technology advancement affects blue collar work, and it has historically enhanced loss of jobs there. The reason for this is simple – repetitive tasks were easy to automate by simple systems. If you are reading the headlines and following the hype around ChatGPT, it seems like AI is now coming for the jugular of white collar workers. Is that really the case though? We will discuss how ChatGPT will destabilize White-collar work in depth here, and give you and idea if your job is in danger.

What is ChatGPT and what are the for white-collar work?

ChatGPT was launched on November 30, 2022 and took the world by a storm. Why? Because it was just so good. The earth was largely sleeping on AI technology, maybe a few niche people and field were paying attention, but when the chatbot was released, it gained instant popularity and caused excitement. And fear. The reason for all of these emotions stirred worlwide was simple – it was just way too good. Too good to be true. Yet, there it was, answering your questions with perfect English, and not only that – but answering them correctly. It was able to write code, answer medical questions, or even help attorneys.

Why is there fear that ChatGPT may destabilize certain jobs?

Many white collar workers tried the tool and realized something very disturbing – something that may have taken them hours. days or weeks to come up with, ChatGPT was able to come up within minutes or seconds. That in and of itself sounds miraculous, and given the fact that we do not really have a good understanding how this technology works exactly – it is easy to presume that it has a lot more in it’s back pocket, and it is only a matter of time before your employer decides to replace you.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Healthcare

Does ChatGPT cause any danger to healthcare workers -at this point – no. Don’t get me wrong, healthcare would benefit and can be shaken up a bit by AI, but we are far away from a point where an AI doctor can come and diagnose and fix you. The industry is way too specific and all people are different, so a human touch will be likely necessary in almost all stages of the process for hundreds of years.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Legal Services

Legal services are being affected by AI and ChatGPT specifically, but in ways that will cause workers of the field to breathe a sigh of relief. Just recently, a lawyer was found using automatically generated citations for his case, generated by ChatGPT, that were in fact hallucinations – things that the Chatbot made up. And he will now be most likely sanctioned. Of course, ChatGPT can be used as a helper, to do some research on a topic – but you need to be an expert or at least have a good understanding of the field itself to be able to also do independent research, to check that the information provided is correct. As it stands, it is unlikely that the Legal field will be largely affected by AI in the near future.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Education

Education will take a massive hit and things will start being done differently there for sure. Just recently I wrote this article: Can Teachers Tell When You Use ChatGPT. The reason? Students are relying on AI to write their assignments. And teachers need to adopt. My personal opinion here is that ChatGPT and AI in general will be greatly beneficial for students and all things concerned with learning, but it will not replace teachers. Some people say that tutoring and grading could be automated, and surely some people will try to implement it – unfortunately I do not think a personal touch of a teacher or professor can be replicated, so results will most likely backfire. I do believe that we will get much smarter students though, as these tools allow pupils to delve in unknown topics pretty easily, and then ask specific questions and get answers, as if they had a personal teacher.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Journalism

A that is predicted to be hit greatly by AI, and indeed it seems like lots of websites are preferring the cheap AI written content over actual journalists. This is something that the markets will decide for themselves – would people prefer actual persons doing the writing, or machines? It seems to me that once again, a job can be greatly enhanced and productivy increased, but actual human content replaced by AI? I do not think so.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Retail and Customer Service

Although not an immediate danger, it is possible that people will try to use AI to replace customer service roles. Some people are proposing automated personal shopping and recommendation engines, to reduce in-store personal. Which sounds good on paper, and some firms may opt to do this. However, if those jobs are gone – you would have other job openings. Someone would actually need to write extremely detailed information about all the goodies in the store, keep it up to date and so on. That won’t happen by itself. Additionally, you once again lose the human touch. Yes, you can of course describe what you want in written words, but a human retail worker who has seen and used the type of item you have used will be much more helpful than a AI robot.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Administrative Roles

Some people believe that scheduling, data entry, and other repetitive tasks can be automated. Some HR processes are also said to be replaced in the future. While I have no doubts that AI will have impact, you will still have lost the much needed human touch, that makes things easier and simpler. There are already tools that can automate scheduling, data entry and other repetitive tasks. I have worked in big corporations and some one my biggest contributions have been with optimizing certain processes. I unfortunately fail to see how AI is all of a sudden causing an automation revolution here. There will always be ways to make something faster on paper, but will it really be faster? I do not think so. Think of a situation where you’re trying to schedule something but the AI system is down. Or you are trying to make it do something it has never done before. I human person can note things down, understand that they may need to speak with a number of people to be able to do the requested job and move on. Will AI be able to do this anytime soon? I would say very unlikely. Solutions like these are already programmable, and most people haven’t implemented them for a reason.

How ChatGPT Will Destabilize White-collar Work – Call centers

This one is a field that we will most likely see lots of firms implementing AI. The problem here is once again that the market will show the quick winners here. Will people prefer firms that have an automated call center or AI powered one? The truth of the matter is, information regarding your problem already exists in the form of documentation for most websites. So why don’t customers apply the solution themselves? Simple – too much work. It’s better someone do it for them. Also most people are in over their heads with some of the tools they use, and need very dumbed down help. My personal opinion here is that the low hanging fruits, the call centers that do a shitty job can be replaced by AI. Most call centers, that have good, liked customer service, will do themselves a disservice to move to AI at this stage, and most likely ever.

Conclusion – Will ChatGPT Destabilize White-collar Work?

At it’s current state, I would say – no way. It will make people more productive and help people learn and implement solutions faster. But if you have ever worked in a white-collar job, you will know – there is always more work to be done. It can hit some of the low-hanging fruits, and it can actually be an improvement for some industries that use cheap-low skilled labor (call centers), but in my opinion a human touch will be inevitable even in those cases.