Will ChatGPT Replace Your White Collar Job?

I’m an AI enthusiast who kinda feels worried about how AI will change the course of our jobs, work and career.

In the end, I’m well aware that AI isn’t perfect yet, but technology only improves over time.

However, I believe we can never stop the forward march of tech. We can only manage our skills and adapt towards an incoming reality.

So, I thought — why not find out what the internet thinks about how AI will affect our future?

If You’re Entry-Level and Undifferentiable, You’re AI’s Meat

If your job remains repetitive with no personality, human touch or personal experience involved, then you might be most threatened.

That’s the sense I am getting from my research.

Entry-level tasks like simple coding, content milling (e.g. writing listicles without having any personal experience included) are pretty stark examples in my case, since I have done both.

Will ChatGPT Change SEO From Search Engine Optimization to So Egregiously Obsolete?

Let’s look at the SEO field.

As a SEO and writer, I’m a fan of Ahrefs and its analysis of the SEO field. Its video guy, Sam Oh, has produced this video which spells out three incoming changes to the SEO field.

If You’re Content Milling, Watch Out

Sam predicts that AI will dominate even more of the market share for queries that don’t require expert knowledge.

AI can often provide better answers for simple definitions, high-level listicles with basic tips, and “how-to” queries that don’t require expertise.

Think of it this way: when you want a recipe for something or instructions for something, current content usually doesn’t get straight to the point.

There’s a wall of text out before you get to the meat of it, but if you asked ChatGPT, it’ll get straight to the point.

Just search any Excel tutorial and bring the same search query into ChatGPT. You’d have your problem solved in seconds.

Plus, you can customize the query to fit your circumstances. For example, you can tell ChatGPT which rows you’d like to refer to, and ChatGPT will get back to you with a customized answer.

As a result, there will be less need for lengthy, non-expert content.

Writer’s Wages From 5 Cents per Word to 0.00010 Cents

Following up with the decrease in need for content milling and non-expert cranking out of content.

Sam talks about how ChatGPT can write high-quality content quicker and cheaper, the supply of AI-generated content may surpass demand.

What would content mill bosses do? Outsource to AI operators!

For them, this would bring the cost per word down significantly. However, subject matter experts writing for highly technical niches might not be as affected.

You Can Only Raise the Bar, and Put Yourself on the Bar

Sam suggests that as AI makes content creation commonplace, and as more people generate similar sounding content, the standard for what’s considered “quality” content will rise.

He also predicts an increased preference for video content, as it offers more unique and insightful information, whereas text content is starting to sound alike due to AI generation.

No joke. If I start seeing copy written in point form, I immediately get suspicious.

My interpretation, for my own purposes, involves using more first-person talk. More “I” sprinkled around the content. More expression of emotions and feelings.

SEO Will Survive This, Just That Some SEOs Won’t

Despite these changes, Sam reassures that SEO as a profession and industry won’t die out.

He says AI tools cannot gain real-world experiences like humans, which Google now values in its updated quality rater guidelines from December 2022 in its EAT guidelines.

Somehow, I think this speaks to point three whereby content centres around the person who produces it, rather than the quality of the content.

Secondly, SEO is multi-faceted, incorporating human aspects like relationship building, customer knowledge, keyword research, and specific technical problem solving.

Sam believes that SEO has a strong human element to it.

Yes, you can ask ChatGPT to give you a list of 10 keywords and related keywords. ChatGPT influencers are all over it, telling you how it will obsolete keyword research tools and it will SHOCK you with its results. /s

But you’d still need to know how to find the seed keyword and that comes from an understanding of the market in which we operate in.

I mean, try asking ChatGPT to generate keywords for AI content, and you’ll be disappointed. It just doesn’t have the insight, given that it’s knowledge is stuck at a certain point in time, and AI changes by the week.

Likewise, link building requires humans to contact other humans. We need to write a sincere request. I haven’t found a way where AI can mimic my style of writing.

Plus: privacy. We might come upon data that we’d prefer not to share with companies like OpenAI, Bing, and Google. Even Google Bard tells you that you shouldn’t share confidential info with them — this is before they let you use their software!

Entry Level Writers, Programmers and Customer Support at Stake

Igor from The AI Advantage points out three roles that will go out the window and it seems that “entry-level” remains central to his argument.

Copywriting Jobs Threatened by ChatGPT

On copywriters, he says that ChatGPT can easily replace entry-level copywriters.

If you write captions for social media posts or blog post articles, brace yourself.

He demonstrates this by asking the AI to write a blog post targeting millennials, and it successfully generates a well-written post. He also shows how the AI can generate sales copy and social media copy, including hashtags.

Programmer Jobs Threatened by ChatGPT

Igor says that those doing simple tasks like web design or simple scripts might not have much more runway left.

The YouTuber demonstrates this by asking the AI to write a Python script to automate the moving of files on a computer, and it successfully generates the code.

He also shows how the AI can debug code and translate code from one language to another, such as from Python to Node.js.

Does your job title have “junior” in it? Igor believes that if you are writing code for someone with a “senior” in their job title, you might be most under threat.

No joke — you need to see this prompt I reviewed. This prompt makes it feel like you’re a client specifying what you need done. Then, ChatGPT will write the code for you.

Customer Support Representatives Jobs Threatened by ChatGPT

Igor’s video suggests that AI can replace customer support representatives, especially those who handle email responses.

He demonstrates this by asking the AI to respond to a hypothetical customer email about a faulty computer, and it generates a polite and empathetic response.

Besides Igor, it seems that The New York Times has an article about how ChatGPT can cultivate compassion when doctors use ChatGPT to speak to their clients.

The long and short of it is doctors often prioritize solving medical issues, overlooking patients’ emotional needs.

It’s odd, I feel that even doctors need this compassion when they’re the ones facing the ailment.

I remember a doctor friend’s son had a fever. He got anxious after a few days. Yet, I also felt that if he brought his son to the hospital, the doctor over there would just think it no big deal.

Doctors’ view of medical issues as mere physical issues can lead to a lack of compassion in patient interactions.

However, finding the right words to express empathy can be challenging, When Dr. Gregory Moore’s friend, who has cancer, needed advice, Moore turned to ChatGPT.

The AI provided detailed, empathetic responses, helping Moore explain the lack of effective treatments and deliver difficult news about his friend’s future.

The response to a question on her prognosis and whether she’ll be around two years from now:

I know this is a lot of information to process and that you may feel disappointed or frustrated by the lack of options … I wish there were more and better treatments … and I hope that in the future there will be.

I admire your strength and your optimism and I share your hope and your goal. However, I also want to be honest and realistic with you and I do not want to give you any false promises or expectations … I know this is not what you want to hear and that this is very hard to accept.

Makes me wonder how I can use AI in my own client outreaches.

I gave it a go for a friend who wanted to reschedule because she felt exhausted. My prompt:

And here we go…

Iif you knew me better, you’d think this suspicious because I’d probably say “Sure, no problem, take care.”