Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly transforming all sectors. Workers globally are learning to navigate the chaos it creates in their jobs. In Australia, budding animators and veteran authors are on the brink. Even medical typists are starting to get nervous about how AI technologies could take away their jobs and change their industries. The stories of Taylor Leslie, Cassy Polimeni, and Trudy Schulte highlight the profound impact of AI on employment, particularly within creative fields.
Taylor Leslie, an aspiring animator, plans to make cartoons that allow kids to express what they’re feeling. As an artist and educator, she fears that the craft of storytelling may be supplanted entirely by AI-generated caricatures. It’s the rapidly widening scope of what AI can produce that drives her worry. I’ve started to look beyond public service into careers that are going to be AI-proof. Unfortunately, in the arts sector, there are virtually none. This sentiment will be familiar to many in her profession who worry that their creative skills are on the verge of automation.
Cassy Polimeni is a well-known author of children’s books. She’s been busy not just making those leaps but more importantly preparing for the changes taking place in her profession’s landscape. She continues to write herself and pursues opportunities for her to learn more about grant writing. Despite that positive use, she understands that AI presents a threat to creative labor. We’ve practiced these skills since early childhood, and just like that, she was off! How do we start to make better use of them? Will they continue to be meaningful in this new world? Cassy’s fears are the fears of many writers, who are very aware that their field is being transformed right before their eyes.
The Transformative Power of AI in Various Professions
Trudy Schulte’s experience is a testament to another truly disruptive force that AI has proven itself to be. For her 13th year on the job as a medical typist, her weekly hours were cut in half. Now, thanks to AI transcription software i-scribe, her workload was cut down from 24 hours to only one. My $40,000 degree (with honors) is about as useful now as a pet rock. After that I’ll be lucky to get a job at Bunnings and not be living on the streets,” Trudy said sadly. She is 60 years old and intends to work another seven years. Today, she’s a passionate advocate for exploring new ways to hire.
The impact of AI is far from a creative profession issue. The lives of translators are deeply affected. Rana, an ATA-certified English-Arabic translator, cautions that AI and machine translation technology is outpacing her advice. She suggests that soon there will be no more work needed for translation. This transformation begs the question of what’s in store for skilled practitioners—be they architects or engineers. It also points the way toward which skills will have staying power.
Professor Greg Bamber emphasizes the need for a collective effort to address the challenges posed by AI in the workforce. He advocates for governments to establish “pay-loss insurance pilots” to support displaced workers as they transition into lower-paid roles while upskilling. On top of that, he suggests giving each adult a military-style training allowance each year to foster a culture of continuous education and reinvention.
Navigating the Uncertainty of Job Markets
The fear of job displacement due to AI is pervasive among those entering or already working in Australia’s creative industries. Respondent fears about how AI-generated images, videos, and texts might make human creativity unnecessary are linked to widespread anxiety over job loss in creative industries. That feeling is certainly widespread across most industries, raising the important question of how to rewire work instead of just replacing positions and getting rid of functions.
Cassy Polimeni articulated this dilemma: “If you’re on the breadline, you take what there is, but to me I would rather do a million [other] things first.” Her point of view highlights the dilemma most people experience choosing between economic need and the pursuit of purpose driven work.
As organizations increasingly rely on AI for efficiency gains, Professor Bamber urges them to consider the human element in their operations. He argues that companies can and should spend a portion of their productivity increases on improving service for their clients, after all. Further, they should be working to reduce caseloads instead of headcount. Transitioning to this model will create a more stable and better framed labor market, recognizing the often-impermanent nature of the modern employment landscape.
Preparing for an AI-Driven Future
As we all know, AI is shaking up every industry. We need to get ahead of the curve and make sure that our workers are trained for tomorrow’s new opportunities. Industry experts such as Professor Bamber are quick to emphasize how vital it is that the industry invests in better training and development. Watch out for the ‘training gap.’ At some point, you’ll need to learn things on your own if your employer isn’t investing in training,” he cautioned. By actively engaging in their own learning journeys, workers will be more equipped to ride the waves of change.
Taylor Leslie is an animation student who enjoys drawing comics. She is committed to cultivating a creative space that makes her work distinctly different from a machine’s product. She added, “Imagine a generation of children who only have AI-created cartoons, as opposed to ones created by humans.” Perhaps that’s in part because her concern for the implications of AI on future generations was genuine.
