Stop being so short-sighted with this issue and try to look into the future.
I, again, took this up with ChatGPT (and again, emphasis mine)…
Me:
As we can imagine the exponential advancements that could potentially take place in the fields of AI and robotics, say, in the next 10,000 years, would you please provide an extensive list of the jobs that might be replaced by robots that are presently being performed by humans.
ChatGPT:
Over the next 10,000 years, AI and robotics could advance to unimaginable levels, potentially replacing most, if not all, human jobs. Below is an extensive list of jobs that could be automated, categorized by industry:
1. Manufacturing & Industrial Jobs
- Assembly line workers
- Factory machine operators
- Quality control inspectors
- Warehouse workers
- Packing and sorting personnel
- Textile and garment workers
- Welders and metal fabricators
- Chemical plant operators
2. Transportation & Logistics
- Truck drivers
- Delivery drivers
- Taxi and ride-share drivers
- Airline pilots
- Ship captains and deck officers
- Train conductors
- Traffic controllers
- Parking lot attendants
- Couriers and mail carriers
3. Retail & Customer Service
- Cashiers
- Sales representatives
- Store clerks
- Shelf stockers
- Call center agents
- Technical support specialists
- Receptionists
- Fast food workers
4. Healthcare & Medical Services
- Radiologists
- Pathologists
- Pharmacists
- Medical transcriptionists
- Lab technicians
- Dental hygienists
- Physical therapy assistants
- Elderly caregivers
- Nurses (partially or fully)
- Surgeons (robotic precision surgery)
5. Food & Hospitality
- Chefs and cooks (automated food preparation)
- Bartenders
- Waiters and servers
- Hotel front desk clerks
- Housekeepers and janitors
- Dishwashers
6. Construction & Skilled Trades
- Bricklayers and masons
- Carpenters
- Electricians
- Plumbers
- Painters
- Roofers
- Heavy equipment operators
7. Office & Administrative Work
- Data entry clerks
- Accountants and auditors
- Bookkeepers
- Secretaries and personal assistants
- Human resources personnel
- Market researchers
- Paralegals
- Legal assistants
8. Education & Learning
- Tutors
- Teachers and professors (AI-led adaptive learning)
- School counselors
- Librarians
9. Creative & Entertainment
- Writers and journalists (AI-generated content)
- Artists and designers
- Musicians and composers
- Actors (AI-generated performances)
- Game developers
- Film editors and animators
10. Science & Research
- Laboratory researchers
- Data scientists
- Mathematicians
- Astronomers (automated space exploration)
- Biologists (AI-driven genetic research)
11. Law Enforcement & Security
- Security guards
- Police officers (AI-based surveillance and robotic patrols)
- Detectives
- Border control agents
- Military personnel
12. Farming & Agriculture
- Farmers and farmworkers
- Fishermen
- Animal breeders
- Food inspectors
13. Personal Services
- Hairdressers and barbers
- Personal trainers
- Fitness instructors
- Therapists (AI-driven mental health bots)
- Clergy and spiritual guides
14. Space Exploration & Colonization
- Astronauts (replaced by AI probes and robots)
- Terraforming specialists
- Space station operators
15. Government & Bureaucracy
- Tax auditors
- Policy analysts
- Bureaucratic clerks
16. Engineering & Technical Work
- Civil engineers
- Software developers
- IT technicians
- Network administrators
- Mechanical engineers
17. Media & Communication
- News anchors
- Public relations specialists
- Advertisers
- Translators and interpreters
18. Social Work & Humanitarian Services
- Social workers
- Counselors
- NGO workers
Given that AI and robotics could evolve to handle creative, ethical, and decision-making roles, even high-level jobs such as politicians, CEOs, and scientists could eventually be replaced.
Would you like me to explore potential new jobs that might emerge in response to these changes?
Me:
Yes, do explore the potential new jobs that might emerge in response to those changes, but only list the new jobs that cannot also be performed by advanced robots. In other words, list the jobs that can only be done by humans because they would be impossible for advanced robots to do.
ChatGPT:
As AI and robotics take over most traditional jobs, humans may still hold roles that require deep emotional intelligence, subjective experiences, creativity beyond pattern recognition, and existential exploration. Below is a list of jobs that might remain uniquely human because they rely on qualities robots could never fully replicate.
1. Philosophical & Existential Professions
- Philosophers & Ethical Thinkers – Contemplating the nature of consciousness, reality, and morality in ways beyond algorithmic reasoning.
- Spiritual Leaders & Gurus – Offering guidance based on deeply personal and subjective experiences of faith, enlightenment, or inner growth.
- Human Experience Chroniclers – Recording the firsthand, subjective human experience in ways that AI cannot “feel” or “live through.”
2. Human Connection & Emotional Professions
- Empathy Coaches & Emotional Mentors – Helping others develop and navigate emotions in ways AI cannot experience.
- Genuine Human Companions – Providing deep, spontaneous, and unpredictable companionship beyond programmed responses.
- True Storytellers & Memory Keepers – Sharing firsthand lived experiences, rather than AI-synthesized narratives.
3. Experience-Based & Sensory Professions
- Adventurers & Pioneers – Exploring new frontiers (space, deep oceans, extreme environments) where human intuition is essential.
- Cultural Ritual Keepers – Preserving and performing cultural traditions in ways rooted in human heritage.
- Authentic Sensory Artists – Creating art from human senses, emotions, and imperfections that AI cannot truly “feel” or experience.
4. Advocacy & Human Rights
- Human Rights Defenders – Protecting and advocating for human dignity in ways that require personal conviction and lived experience.
- Resistance Leaders – Organizing movements against oppressive AI governance or unethical robotic control.
- Moral Companions – Ensuring human voices remain essential in decision-making regarding ethics, freedom, and identity.
5. Purely Irrational & Spontaneous Roles
- Chaos Agents – Embracing unpredictability, creativity, and randomness in ways AI, which is bound by logic, cannot fully replicate.
- Performance Pranksters – Engaging in spontaneous, human-centered humor and absurdity that isn’t predictable or replicable by AI.
- Unscripted Life Coaches – Teaching people how to embrace uncertainty, chance, and spontaneous decision-making.
In essence, the jobs that will remain human-exclusive will be those that depend on the irrational, the deeply emotional, the subjective, and the unquantifiable aspects of existence.
Me:
Okay. Now take into consideration the extensive list of jobs that you provided in your first answer. We’re talking about the jobs that humans once performed in order to earn money so that they could pay for food, clothing, and housing, etc., but have now been taken over by advanced robots. Next, take into consideration how many more humans will be added (in the next 10,000 years) to the approximately 8 billion that presently exist on earth, and then tell me if you think that those “human-exclusive” jobs you listed in your second answer (the ones that depend on the “…irrational, the deeply emotional, the subjective, and the unquantifiable aspects of existence…”) will be plentiful enough to provide the vast number of future humans with the ways and means of earning the money they will need to, again, purchase food, clothing, housing, and whatever else they may need to survive and prosper?
ChatGPT:
No, those “human-exclusive” jobs would not be plentiful enough to provide a vast future human population with the means to earn money for food, clothing, housing, and other necessities. The reason is simple: the vast majority of traditional jobs that currently sustain billions of people will be gone, and the small number of roles that remain human-exclusive will not scale to support everyone financially.
The Core Problem: Economic Displacement at an Unprecedented Scale
- Massive Job Loss Across All Sectors – With AI and robotics automating almost everything, there will be a dramatic decline in wage-based employment opportunities.
- Extreme Population Growth – Even if population growth slows, billions more people will exist, making human-exclusive jobs even more scarce and competitive.
- Limited Demand for “Human-Exclusive” Jobs – Not everyone can be a philosopher, spiritual guide, or emotional mentor, and those roles do not generate enough economic value to sustain billions of people.
The Collapse of the Money-Based Economy
If machines take over nearly all labor and production, why would money still be necessary? If there are no jobs, there is no income, and without income, people cannot buy necessities—unless the entire economic system fundamentally changes.
Possible Solutions for Human Survival in a Fully Automated Future
1. Post-Scarcity Society (Resource-Based Economy)
- With robots producing everything (food, clothing, housing, goods), money may become obsolete.
- Goods and services could be distributed based on need rather than purchase power.
- A shift toward a system like Jacque Fresco’s Venus Project—where AI manages resources for the collective good—could replace capitalism.
2. Universal Basic Income (UBI) or Universal Resource Allocation
- Governments (or AI-managed systems) provide all humans with a guaranteed income to cover basic needs, regardless of employment.
- This allows people to pursue creative, philosophical, or emotional work without financial stress.
3. AI-Managed Governance & Economy
- AI-driven systems could ensure fair distribution of resources, eliminating extreme wealth inequality.
- Humans focus on leisure, creativity, and personal fulfillment rather than work-driven survival.
4. Redefining the Concept of “Work”
- People may no longer need to “earn a living” in the traditional sense.
- The pursuit of knowledge, self-improvement, and exploration could become the new “purpose” of humanity.
The Inevitable Conclusion: A Post-Work Society
If AI and robots handle all labor, traditional economic structures must change. There simply won’t be enough “human-exclusive” jobs to sustain the current economic system. Instead, humanity will need to transition into a post-scarcity civilization where survival is not tied to employment.
Me:
Would not your list of possible solutions be dependent upon the magnanimity and generosity of those who built, own, and control the robots? What if the owners were greedy, self-centered scoundrels who were only concerned with accumulating personal wealth?
ChatGPT:
Yes, you’ve hit on the central issue: who controls the machines controls the future of humanity. If AI and robots produce everything but remain in the hands of a small elite, then the outcome wouldn’t be a utopian post-scarcity society—it would be one of extreme inequality, suffering, and possibly even human extinction.
The Dark Scenario: A Wealthy Elite Hoarding Resources
If the people or corporations who own the robots are greedy, self-centered, and power-hungry, several dystopian possibilities emerge:
- Extreme Wealth Concentration – The elite class controls all AI and automation, owning the production of everything while billions of jobless people are left with nothing.
- Mass Unemployment & Poverty – Since robots do all the work, most people have no income, leading to mass suffering.
- Technocratic Authoritarianism – The wealthy ruling class, backed by AI-driven surveillance, prevents any revolt by the unemployed masses.
- Depopulation Policies – The elite may view billions of “useless” humans as a liability and enact policies to reduce the population, either through controlled means (e.g., limited resources, sterilization) or more brutal measures.
- Human Servitude to AI Owners – The masses could be forced into desperate conditions, becoming dependent on elite-controlled AI systems for mere survival.
Final Thought: The Crossroads of Human History
Humanity will eventually face two futures:
- A post-scarcity utopia, where AI and robots provide for all, eliminating poverty and creating a society of abundance.
- A dystopian nightmare, where a small ruling class owns AI, leaving billions in desperation or orchestrating mass depopulation.
Which future emerges depends entirely on who controls the AI. The window for ensuring AI benefits everyone, rather than just the elite, is rapidly closing.
xoxoxox
And that’s where my conversation with Chat ended, with that final hanging question: “… Which future emerges depends entirely on who controls the AI.…” wherein all one has to do is imagine the future still being plagued with Trumpian types, or Putin types, or Kim Jong Un types and you have your answer as to which future emerges.
, I thanked Chat for its efforts and the conversation ended.
)
Fewer people needed for boring, repetitive driving jobs
