The new industrial revolution is here—Artificial Intelligence. And it’s coming for your job. Hundreds of thousands of workers in the tech industry have been laid off because of AI’s capabilities to replicate and outperform the results of humans. Numerous companies have adopted AI models into their operations and experienced tremendous results. More companies are rapidly adopting this new technology, which will inevitably lead to more layoffs.
Technology employees aren’t the only ones who have lost their jobs. Employees in various industries have been affected. Some taxi companies use autonomous vehicles. AI offers fast, detailed diagnosis and personal treatment plans. The customer service industry uses chatbots, and banks use AI for fraud prevention.
Eventually, AI will take over most industries, and you’ll likely be out of work.
Industries Affected in the Near Future
Elon Musk said that AI will take over computer work “lightning fast.” It already has, but the situation will exacerbate. I was one of AI’s victims. In 2022, I worked full-time for a UK content company remotely and had several American clients I provided services to as a freelancer. My freelancing business expanded to the point that I could no longer manage the workload at the UK company effectively. At the beginning of 2023, I quit my full-time job and served my clients.
Two months after starting my writing business, I lost all of my clients. The reason wasn’t because of poor service delivery. My clients were introduced to AI, and they no longer had a reason to hire my services. AI, for the most part, is free and fast. I was neither of those.
Throughout the next few months, I applied daily to job posts. AI hadn’t affected only me. My global colleagues had lost a tremendous amount of work, so competition for new work had increased significantly. A particular job board I browsed daily had about ten new posts before the advent of AI. I watched that number dwindle to ten job posts a week, ten posts a month and eventually no posts for several weeks.
Months had passed since I earned an income from writing, affecting my livelihood severely. As much as I tried to hang on to hope that remote work would eventually avail itself, I had to admit to myself that I needed to find any available work.
Earning Money in the AI Era
AI is in its infant stages, but it will progress rapidly in the next few years. Considering AI companies are racing against each other to be the leader, they have made numerous AI positions available. In my opinion, occupying an AI position is a temporary solution for your career. Essentially, you’re working yourself out of a job because you’re training the AI system to do the tasks that humans currently perform, including yours.
I was desperate for work after not receiving an income for months, so I found several positions that required physical labour. Musk also mentioned that AI will eventually perform physical work as well, but it will take a few years. Learn to code was a popular phrase a few years ago regarding job search. I assume it will soon evolve into learn to dig. You might not be physically digging to earn a living, but you’re likely to perform physical work.
I tried several physical jobs and eventually found stable and well-paid work doing deep cleaning. I offered that service as part of car detailing and expanded it to furniture and carpet maintenance.
Warning: Physical work is tough.
After working from home for several years, I needed a few weeks to adjust to travelling and working on-site. But that was a small price to pay for receiving an income that I had forfeited for several months.
At the moment, robots can sweep, pave, dance and cook, to name a few skills. Eventually, they’ll be able to do most, if not all, tasks that humans can do. What then?
Universal Basic Income
When questioned about people’s income when AI and robots fulfil most jobs, Musk said that people would receive a high universal basic income. I am completely opposed to this. It results in dependence on the state, which can limit or refuse to pay your income. The state may demand that you perform certain duties to receive your income. Whichever way you look at it, a universal basic income is a terrible idea.
But when most people lose their jobs and cannot replace their income, how will we survive?
The best way to overcome a cataclysm is to be prepared with weapons. No, I don’t mean armour. Your weapons will be savings, a retirement account, investments and being debt-free.
When you don’t have instalments to pay creditors, your savings balloon exponentially. That was the biggest surprise I experienced after paying off my debt. By having a significant savings account, you can dedicate a portion of it to investments.
The first step is to clear your debt. That’s crucial. The best strategy that worked for me was to reduce all my essential expenses and eliminate the non-essential expenses. That enabled me to dedicate the optimal amount to debt, allowing me to pay it off quicker than the lifestyle that got me into debt.
It took me about seven years to pay off all my debt. During that period, I didn’t take vacations. I bought clothes only after the one pair of jeans I had worn became completely tattered. I cut up my credit cards. More debt wasn’t an option. You don’t get out of a hole by digging it deeper.
I lived the minimalist lifestyle because I dreaded receiving weekly calls from lawyers who threatened me with lawsuits, garnishing my wages and blacklisting me. After paying my debt, I felt empowered because I had taken a major leap towards financial freedom. The phone calls from lawyers stopped; my savings increased, and I invested in my future.
Predicting the future of the labour market is near impossible. Regardless of the inevitable, what I know for certain is that you’ll have a better fighting chance if, at the very least, you have a house and a car that are paid off, coupled with a savings account. Of course, you shouldn’t have any debt.
In 2022, I was overburdened with writing work. The following year, I didn’t have a single client. AI took over the content industry rapidly. It will eventually come for your job as well. Start improving your finances immediately so that you’re in the best possible shape when an advanced technology fights to take away your livelihood.
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