Few things in life are immune to change. Even in as little as a year or a decade, people’s lives can flip completely upside down or take a turn so sharp, they might not even remember said life before it.
Unsurprisingly, the way people earn their bread and butter can change quite drastically, too. For some people, that might entail computerizing or modernizing certain processes, for others – getting better tools, better working conditions, or better compensation. However, for some employed individuals, the change might not be for the better, especially if their jobs are likely to become obsolete over time.
Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed what they believe such jobs might be. One user asked them what professions they believe are going to get wiped out in the next five-to-ten years, and quite a few netizens shared their two cents on the matter. If your curiosity has been awakened, you can find their answers on the list below.
#1
I hope it’s influencers.
#2
My friend is an artist. She made a living off commissions on Twitter. That site going to sh**e and the rise of AI has already caused her to lose 80-90% of the commissions she was getting a few years ago. She’s currently working a minimum wager to keep what she can in her account while she figures out what to do.
draggar:
This is one of the saddest parts of AI. We thought AI would take over mundane tasks so we could pursue things like the arts, yet here we are, doing mundane things while the arts are being taken over by AI.
Even our community alerts pages on FB are now adding AI generated images with every post. It's annoying AF 99.99999% of the time.
Image credits: Beautiful-Aerie7576
#3
In the USA?
- Teachers
- Lawyers
- Scientists
- Engineers
Because education, law, and science are suddenly considered anti-American. Without education, everything eventually crumbles.
Even before this Trump administration, Americans have been losing jobs to foreigners that are better educated than us. We’re losing those jobs because Americans just aren’t qualified, simple as that.
At the rate things are going right now, we won’t have any professions left that require a brain.
#4
My hope is that car salespeople go extinct. The dealership model is antiquated and unnecessary. There’s no good reason why one can’t buy a car completely electronically. Choose car. Add options. Add to basket. Select financing. Complete purchase.
Image credits: MountainRoll29
#5
Any sort of translation work.
jak_hungerford:
My wife is a translator and this is something she is really concerned about. Her projects were cut in half this year compared to 2024.
Image credits: sharkmouthgr
#6
I used to do court transciption (not stenography). Basically I download an audio file and type what's spoken in the courtroom verbatim (within style rules). The industry has been trying to implement speech to text software for years but it's been too c**p up until very recently. I've since upskilled to an "editor" where instead of typing manually I correct the generated transcript.
It still struggles with speaker differentiation and formatting but it's improved so drastically within the last 3 years it's only a matter of time until traditional transcriptionists are no longer necessary.
Image credits: Palebisi
#7
I don't think wiped out but I do think a lot of digital designers are going to replaced with AI.
chick-with-stick:
My brother was a digital designer for a popular video game. He did this for 20 years. They just let him go as well as a bunch of other designers. S**t sucks. He’s so damn talented.
Image credits: cowboyromussy
#8
Teaching. We’re leaving en masse due to low pay and terrible conditions, and it’s only getting worse.
Caspur42:
I live in the south and it’s way worse than people know. We have a teacher on fb who regularly posts things that are clearly not true like 20 million dead from famine in the US during the Great Depression.
The good teachers are fleeing in mass and leaving the state.
#9
By the looks of it, being a federal employee.
momasana:
Them, and us who rely on federal funding for our jobs. I'm a research administrator at a university and let's just say that things aren't looking too hot right now.
geekonthemoon:
I've been saying that people used to cozy up to fed govt jobs but if they're no longer secure, people arent going to take them and they're going to have trouble filling the roles with good candidates.
Then!!! We can just hire Elon to do it all with one of his many perfect private companies, right? 😭
Image credits: Ok_Stop7366
#10
Anything AI can do.
It will also come as younger people lose.the ability to write, think analytically, etc.
AI will give quick on demand results and answers.
Humans need to reason through something and develop knowledge or expertise.
Easy answers will make humanity dumb.
#11
Journalist.
I covered the NBA for over a decade, but from 2019 until now — the last five years — I’ve been laid off seven times as companies shift to AI-authored stories. I’ve been offered AI editing roles for half my typical pay which is unsustainable. I know other writers from other fields are probably feel the same squeeze as I am.
Image credits: TEEEEEEEEEEEJ23
#12
My masters in data science feels pretty useless right now. Saturated market, and AI is being programmed to do coding, analyze trends, create other models, and prepare reports.
It’s terrifying but I hope I’m wrong :( Shocked I didn’t see this reply as one of the first comments.
Image credits: MightGuy8Gates
#13
Bridal and formal wear stores/stylists. We’re already seeing stores close now at rapid rates. People are buying their wedding dresses and prom/homecoming dresses from SHEIN, Amazon and other cheaper online retailers like Azazie.
Brides still try and book appointments and tell us, oh I have a dress, I just didn’t get the “Say Yes to the Dress” experience, so I want to come in and try stuff on. We can’t compete with a $50 dress, and brides are caring less and less about quality, because “I’m only wearing it for a few hours.” Some bridal shop owners think they can ban together and write their congressional leaders and senators and stop people from buying online, and I said you really can’t. There’s really no way to take back the industry.
We are in the age of fast fashion, and cheap prices. Gone are the days of spending $1500 on a wedding dress and shopping with your mom and waiting 6-9 months for it to come in. It’s not about educating them, and teaching them about quality. It’s a different generation and we either get with the times or we get out.
Image credits: MacisBeerGutBabyBump
#14
Customer service + call centers are gonna see a lot of trouble with Agentic AI on the horizon. Not good because that industry employs millions of people across the world.
Image credits: InevitableOne8421
#15
Audiobook Narrators. I am related to one and know several others. Apparently, they've combined existing voices to make different types of AI voice. Feed the text of a book into the AI, wait a bit, and you have an audiobook. It has already caused a significant reduction in the amount of available work.
Image credits: soconn
#16
I am a writer and video producer. I already know people in my profession who have lost jobs. I think, in particular, writing and designing will be going away. “Just use ChatGPT” I hear regularly. The benefit people like isn’t that it’s good. It’s that it’s cheap and done. Glad I’m on the tail end of a long career. Hanging on the last few years…if I can.
Image credits: mtbbikenerd
#17
Estimators. Im in construction. We have apps now that you can upload several pictures of the exterior of your home and it will calculate with acceptable accuracy the materials needed.It also will measure your roof without touching a ladder, measure trim, soffits and siding.It sends you a report with a full list of materials lengths of materials and % of waste. Also does 3d pics of what the hime will look like.Another app takes that info and calculates what the job will cost based on the region and aprox labor cost. This process would take days in the 90s.Complete game changer.
Image credits: Additional-Run1610
#18
Really hoping to see real estate agents disappear in the near future.
Half_Man1:
I heard an interesting thing that they might!
Commission rates are too high and the market is over saturated with agents. Eventually an online platform is gonna develop to cut them out. Just like how people basically never use travel agents now.
Real estate agents might exist for large or complex sales but their rates aren’t reflecting the competition existing in their sector.
Image credits: Handiesforshandies
#19
Copywriting.
moal09:
I work in the industry, and a ton of people are being cut for AI even though it sounds like s**t half the time, but it's just good enough that a lot of companies don't care.
Even a lot of the remaining jobs want you to use AI in tandem, so you can pump out more volume faster.
Image credits: Mundane-Brain-1278
#20
I would have to say traditional local in person bank tellers and walk in banks. I'm already seeing these new type of banks showing up. They look like gas stations without the stores and the gas pumps are video ATMs. To do your banking, you drive up to the ATM, request what service you want and if that service requires a teller, you'll be connected to a call center teller (quite possibly an overseas one or AI). If you need to cash a check or deposit money , you just enter them into the ATM. The downside to these is the massive loss of local teller job. You'll no longer have someone from your community to help you with your banking needs.
Image credits: Spastic_pinkie
#21
I strongly believe radiology will be HEAVILY downsized in the next 5-10 years with the improvements in AI. So in my opinion, any premeds should keep this in mind when thinking about specialties.
Image credits: JizzleOfficial
#22
Newspaper print employees.
entitledfanman:
I simply do not understand how so many local papers are still in print. I don't know a single person that still subscribes to a newspaper delivery.
Image credits: Overall_Brilliant_74
#23
I feel like accounting software is getting so good that accounting clerks might be done in. Especially with efforts to make a lot of lower income processes more streamlined and automated there won't be a lot of point for this job anymore.
Image credits: garlicroastedpotato
#24
In the USA, Locomotive Engineers on major freight railroads. Trains basically drive themselves now, all the Engineer really does is hit a dead-man switch, blow the horn, and ring the bell. A computer runs the train and even tells the Engineer when to apply the air brakes, the big carriers are pushing for One-Man Crews, and General Electric and the railroad electronics companies are pushing for programs that can run the train from a dead start to a dead stop. Locomotive Engineers aren’t even technically called “Engineers” anymore, they’re “Locomotive Operators.” Especially with the recent political regime and new head of the FRA, this reality is coming ever faster.
Image credits: lv8_StAr
#25
Paralegals. It’s scary but the legal world is embracing AI. Everyone heard about those lawyers who used ChatGPT and it cited case law that didn’t exist, but no one’s talking about how LexisNexis developed their own AI that won’t do that.
If an AI can summarize case law, write a brief, generate court documents- what does the paralegal do?
The only saving grace is that there are plenty of old lawyers out there who don’t even know how to e-file documents, so that may delay it a bit.
Image credits: Visual_Refuse_6547
#26
Congress.
#27
I do digital marketing for small local businesses.
We do their social media, websites, google ads, newsletters, blogs, etc. with the way AI is advancing, I really worry that people won’t need someone to market for them anymore.
Like that’s still way down the line, but I’m in my 20s. What is this industry going to look like when I’m 50?
It’s already really hard to find a job.
Image credits: littlemybb
#28
Taking orders at fast food places. Not much of a profession but won't be a job long.
#29
What about drive thrus? Some places like Taco Bell are already doing it with the order taking. Not sure if they could do the actual food though.
xkulp8:
Fast food seems to be speedrunning getting rid of cashiers and trying to move everyone to apps or kiosks. Secondarily they seem to be getting rid of dine-in service in favor of drive-thru or pickup. McD's is phasing out self-serve beverages for example. Starbucks is opening new stores without seating areas. Much lower costs that way.
Image credits: spwnofsaton
#30
With the advent of A.I., probably data entry.
#31
Radio DJs
Going to be replaced by one person managing multiple radio stations via AI DJs.
Image credits: Buttafuoco
#32
Music composition for film, movie trailers, commercials etc. It can all be automated now already. AI is being trained to replicate and sequence popular music just enough to avoid any copyright issues.
Image credits: maebyrutherford
#33
US election workers.
No need for them if the results are predetermined.
#34
Literally all of the WFH roles, that exist entirely within Microsoft Teams. If there is no physical element to your job, they are actively developing AI to replace you.
Whatever human element you think you bring to the table…..they’re willing to sacrifice it, to save the money.
#35
Technical Author jobs are currently disappearing thanks to AI.
A big pharma company near me has laid off most of the TA dept. The ones that re left just proof read what AI writes for them. AI is very good at reading though large documents to summarize them. It still can't write the original spec documents though like a URS, Functional Spec or Design Spec. That has to be done by an analyst, engineer or scientist.
#36
Computer programmers - AI being trained now by clueless programmers who extol the virtues of AI
Manual factory laborers - AI combined with advanced robotics will automate 90+%
Most call center workers - AI will replace them as it is already being trained by consuming mass recordings of customer interactions.
I worked in IT for close to 50 years at executive positions and can tell you this is happening and is the goal.
Devastation of film making industry at all job levels due to AI (and all those supporting jobs as AI will replace actors, directors, FX, stunt, animators, set and wardrobe professionals, and on and on).
Image credits: Wild4Awhile-HD
#37
Recording engineers. Specifically mixing and mastering engineers. In 10 years there will be AI tools to do this stuff automatically. There's already plugins for specific elements to be done by AI.
I used to work as an engineer and have been talking to grammy winning mix engineers. They're already being hit up by companies to develop models designed to emulate their mixing style.
Tracking engineers might be a little more safe because recording an actual band needs to be done physically, but I'd say 95% of engineers that do tracking also pay rent by doing mixing.
But there's almost certainly going to be tools developed to make tracking done in a living room sound like it was done in a famous studio acoustically, so even tracking engineers who own their own studios and think they have an advantage because they have a good sounding recording space are not for sure safe.
#38
I work as a Master Control Operator, basically one of the people that monitors and edits the playlists that send tv programming to air. We monitor for graphics, closed captioning, audio, video, and also serve as emergency recovery if the video or audio goes haywire. We also roll the commercial breaks for any live programming like the news or sporting events.
We recently started using a new on air system that has some strange kinks in it when it comes to live programming and doesn’t seem to be designed for rapid in the moment adjustments. When we asked the engineers about it, they said they designed the program with “stations that do not have a live operator” in mind. The program also has auto recovery options to save air if it senses an upcoming item has no CC, audio, or too much black video. If a spot fails for any reason the system sees how long the upcoming outage would be and autofills it with preapproved promos and graphics.
It’s already pretty standard in the industry that many tv stations are basically shadow stations that follow a main broadcast station and when the main rolls a commercial break, the secondary takes that trigger and rolls its own break along with it.
So all that combined, I have a strong feeling the purpose of this new system is to bug test and design an on air program that can basically run and recover itself while following a mother station. You could then have a dozen or more stations all following the lead of one main station which could eliminate like 90% of operators, the only ones remaining being those who monitor those dozen stations at once and do quick fixes for any stations that miss a trigger or have a random glitch. I don’t think live tv could realistically be fully automated in a decade but the amount of hands needed to do it will get smaller by the day.
Image credits: Thissnotmeth
#39
Foreign language dubbing voice actors 😭.
#40
Feel like stock brokers. With all the apps nowadays everybody is a stockbroker. Albeit prolly not the best.
#41
Video game QA. Honestly it seems like it doesn’t even matter what goes out anymore.
Image credits: Personal_Ad9690
#42
Lenders and the administrative employees who support them. I underwrite complex commercial loans. AI has already figured out simple auto-decisioning for small loans like credit cards and HELOCs. The bigger loans involving multiple borrowers and entities still require human braining and nuance and interaction. That will disappear eventually. I'm maxing out every retirement account I can because I'll probably get booted sooner than I'd planned.
#43
Not sure if wiped out but Data Analytics is drastically changing. Lots of back end connections and GUI are being automated so analytics can be had without talking to a team. Often times the siri generated graph is not correct and uses false logic but gets the exec’s an answer ASAP without any follow ups.
#44
“Manufacturing Workers”, nowadays, the development of automatic machinery is increasing, and as time goes by, workers are reduced due to inventions to speed up production.
Image credits: its_lirarush30
#45
Office Administration or receptionist, and maybe travel agents.
#46
Modeling and some bits of advertising.
#47
Grocery store clerk.
Image credits: Junior_Text_8654
#48
Broadcast production in local news, if not entirely most local news teams with how the industry is moving towards utilizing AI and centralization. Most of these jobs have already been eliminated in the past 10-15 years and the rest are probably less than 5 years away from being gone.
#49
I feel like people with Library Sciences degrees. They’re actually in high-demand currently as they’re helping train LLMs but they’re essentially working towards making themselves significantly less valuable to borderline obsolete.
#50
Switchboard operators are f****d.
#51
5 years? not that much for the average person.
10 years - robots are going to become more ubiquitous. They are already beginning to replace security guards and delivery people, there will be more tele-medicine, online education, hospitality and sales via AI and robots. Robochefs are becoming cheaper by the year so the fast food industry is going to undergo a significant change. If you watch the Presidential inauguration ceremony you will see all the billionaires in the industries that require government cooperation to bring in AI, robotics and automation.
People who work in the audio/visual arts or design should be worried, the pace of AI improvements in those fields means many will gradually see their work dry up. Background actors or 'extras' have been replaced by CGI for quite a long time now and fairly soon even leading roles will go the same way. Voice-over artists, continuity announcers and audiobook narrators have less than 5 years, news readers may last a bit longer.
Where a profession primarily involves data analysis they will be replaced sooner, or their work will change to a more supervisory role. Where their work involves manual dexterity and coordination, especially in human contact in highly regulated scenarios they will be harder to replace.
For example a 10 year medically trained Radiologist who spends most of the time analysing X-Rays, CT and MRI Scans will be replaced sooner than the radiographer who helps the patients into/onto the machine and takes the image. The biochemist who analyses blood test results will be replaced sooner than the phlebotomist who takes the blood sample. ECG machines are already (and have been for some time) better at analysing and diagnosing heart pathology than the majority of human doctors, but they haven't yet made an ECG machine that can actually take the ECG so the ECG technician is relatively safe. The designer of new technology products will be replaced sooner than the person who repairs and maintains those products, if you want to guarantee yourself a job for the next 50 years learn how to use a soldering iron.
Certain duties and roles of the police and military will be replaced, but as a scene of crime officer your job is more secure than that of the forensic examiner. Bedside nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and prostitutes will be some of the hardest professions for robotics and AI to replace, despite what the mainstream media and online media would have you believe.
The worldwide shipping industry knows that the majority of human crew time is spent doing virtually nothing on long sea voyages or waiting outside ports. If they can take most of the crew off the ship outside of ports going out, an onto ships waiting to come into port and remote pilot a ship on the high seas between ports they will save a tonne of money, but that industry is highly regulated for safety.
Where work involves routine tasks in a controlled environment, such as Amazon pickers and packers, they will be replaced probably within 10 years. Farm labourers, fruit pickers etc are already being replaced but primarily in greenhouse type farms. There is significant innovation going on in the farming / food production industry and the main thing slowing the pace of change is the very high upfront investment cost. In the UK for example the government can afford to p**s off the farmers (unlike previously) because they know the small to medium farming concerns are going to be bought up by the industrial farming corporates who can afford the new technology within 20 years. The Trump mandated deportation of illegal farm workers is probably for the very same reasons.
Elon Musk invested in the insanely expensive industry of astronautics because it was needed for Starlink and the bandwidth requirement for networking is going to skyrocket in the next 10 years. Under sea network cable cutting benefits him, because ships can't damage satellite communications. Elon Musk is not a tech innovation genius, he is a very very good analyst, he started in banking.
The issues with things like personal flying vehicles and driverless cars is not the technology, it's the regulation of that technology, governments move slow and tend to be over-cautious. If a field or profession involves a lot of regulation they will be the hardest to replace.
#52
Community (aka retail) pharmacies.
They essentially still exist because of the current state and local laws. In a few years only massive pharmacy chains will exist and they will continue to do whatever they can to cut costs. The biggest of which is personnel. There are other factors at play, but there is currently low value added by the typical pharmacist (pharmacy) at a individual patient level and a large financial pressure to shift to an Amazon-type business model.
#53
According to the BLS, it's a bunch of unsexy occupations like typists, data entry, telephone operators, meter readers etc that probably shouldn't exist anyway.
However, that's boring so I'm going to say digital design creatives. This is a perfect job for AI. AI can easily be trained to come up with a base journey and visual design. AI will then allow quick iteration of designs for A-B testing and improvement. There's a strong push to automate here as digital design is often slow and expensive today. These jobs are going away.
#54
Medical Coding. The people who listen to your doctor's notes and submit the insurance work will very soon be replaced by AI.
#55
People who aren't good at stuff are going to be replaced by people who are using AI to do their jobs more efficiently.
#56
Postal workers.
