Is AI Already Taking Junior Jobs?

Over the last few months, I've seen more posts and comments about how AI is coming for junior roles in "X" industry. That is certainly the case in the area I have predominantly worked in: software Customer Success. Still, it's interesting to see people in other fields make the same statement. More troubling is looking at the bigger picture. Can we just say that AI is coming for ALL junior roles?

And why is that?

If we think about gen AI specifically, many use cases are for content creation, support chatbots, summarising documents, brainstorming/ideation and coding. In the real world, more junior employees complete many of these tasks. We can now automate a lot of this work by building our own tools or buying 3rd party platforms. Just look at platforms like fyxer.ai, AI SDR and Otter.ai. All of these platforms promise greater amounts of productivity, so now, instead of a team of 10, you might only need a team of three. And let's admit it, in the current climate CFOs will be keen to keep headcount lean.

It's a problem

And, of course, this loss of jobs presents a societal challenge. What are those people going to do for work? Is it unfair that this impacts more junior than senior roles, where their experience isn't as easy to automate?

And with the loss of junior roles, we're cutting off our supply chain to future leaders and potentially limiting their experiences that make great leaders today.

Only a few hours ago did I see the VC Harry Stebbings making a similar observation.

Creative roles aren't immune to this either. Just look at the recent advances we've seen in image and video generation. Back at Christmas, I wrote this article about the Coca-Cola ad being generated entirely by AI. It will be fascinating to see what they do this year.

What's the future?

I don't know what the answer is or what the future holds for these impacted roles. I want people to flow into new roles that will be created and more products developed; taking advantage of our new AI capabilities for ideas, we can't even imagine today. But it's hard to see what this road looks like when the destination is entirely unknown.

Using generative AI at work still has the ability to cause embarrassment, or worse a large mistake, when we don't check the output.

To prevent that, I've created a Notion document complete:

• Simple checkpoints before using AI.
• A clear process for checking AI output for accuracy and quality.
• Actionable tips on how to add their own valuable insights and polish AI responses.
• Practical examples for common work tasks.
• Essential background info on why AI can make mistakes (like 'hallucinations').
• And much more, all within an easy-to-use, interactive Notion template.

Curated News

Qualtrics Envisions Multiagent AI in the Workplace

Brad Anderson, President of Product at Qualtrics, envisions a transformative role for agentic AI in the workplace. He emphasizes a shift from traditional data analysis toward AI-driven actions that enhance customer and employee experiences. Agentic AI can provide intelligent, context-based, real-time responses and solutions, such as personalizing customer service based on loyalty or detecting digital frustrations in retail. Qualtrics has expanded into conversational feedback and real-time service using agentic AI, allowing businesses to turn feedback into personalized, timely actions across channels.

NTT DATA Launches Agentic AI Services for Enterprises

NTT DATA has introduced comprehensive agentic AI services aimed at helping organizations integrate AI agents into their operations. These services support every stage of an organization’s agentic AI journey, from advisory and building AI agents to implementation and ongoing managed services. Applicable across industries like manufacturing, banking, and healthcare, these services aim to maximize AI investments and responsibly innovate while ensuring ongoing optimization and success.

Endava Develops 'Morpheus' Agentic AI Accelerator

Technology services company Endava has launched 'Morpheus,' an agentic AI industry accelerator designed to tackle complex challenges across various industries, including highly regulated fields like healthcare and finance. 'Morpheus' uses multi-agent autonomous teams to deliver value in areas such as underwriting policies, legal research, and healthcare product development. The system emphasizes transparency and auditability, ensuring that all AI activities are knowable and traceable.

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Thanks for reading, and see you next Friday.

Simon,

Are you looking for a job in the tech sector? You'd do well to check out all the available roles on Wellfound. Wellfound is a platform that connects startups and tech companies with job seekers. It offers over 130,000 remote and local job listings, allowing candidates to apply with a single profile and view salary and equity details upfront.

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