Hunt for ‘Creative’ Jobs that cannot be done by machines

Wipro Ltd, post launching its artificial intelligence platform few months back, is now making its biggest push to embrace automation by allowing more of its managers to identify work which will not require engineers in each of the over 20,000 projects currently underway.This new capability implies that Wipro doesn’t just get to save on costs, but it fundamentally alters the traditional model of deploying armies of engineers to undertake software maintenance work.

These intelligent software programs are capable of handling a variety of workflows, and are advanced enough to even have a phone conversation with a client or a customer to help that person troubleshoot cable TV or cellphone service. In many cases, the person at the other end of the conversation does not even realize that he or she is talking to a machine! Additionally, these intelligent programs are also used in maintaining, updating and troubleshooting computing infrastructure, testing software programs and so on.

Surely, the trend of lower employee additions and shifting of workload away from human beings on to ‘intelligent computers’ cannot be expected to remain confined only to Wipro; and is likely to happen sooner than we may even imagine. But do we even know what's the cherry on top? It is not just IT jobs that will be done by machines; according to World Bank president Jim Kim, 69% of all jobs currently done by humans — including in agriculture and factories — in India will be done by machines in the future.

What does such inevitable developments imply for campus placements at India's engineering colleges? Would this prompt our engineering colleges to consider reducing seats? What about the investments they have made? Have they broken even? Did they bank too much on IT?

With the possibility of fewer technology companies coming to campuses getting real, should the placement cells at India's engineering colleges start actively inviting non-IT companies - the ones that have been ignored for decades?

The onus is now once again on humans to figure more ‘creative’ jobs that cannot yet be done by machines.

A study by Fortune finds that while machines will change jobs, but they are unlikely to fully take over from humans. The study further finds that the technical feasibility of automation is best analyzed by looking not at occupations as a whole, but at the amount of time spent on individual activities, and the degree to which these could be automated by using technology that currently exists and adapting it to individual work activities. Overall, the Fortune study found that only about 5% of occupations could be fully automated by adapting current technology. However, today’s technologies could automate 45% of the activities people are paid to perform across all occupations. What’s more, about 60% of all occupations could see 30% or more of their work activities automated.

So, while automation is making its mark on a number of different industries, it is being argued that there are still some jobs that require a human presence. So even as larger companies may be automating jobs, there are some jobs and tasks that cannot be turned over to machines. Listed underneath are 20 different jobs at the small businesses or that one could start a small business around that in most cases cannot yet be fully automated:

1. Designer
2. Artisan Chef
3. Garbage Collector
4. Gardener
5. Security Guard
6. Construction Worker
7. Architect
8. Writer
9. Researcher
10. Musician
11. Instructor
12. Retail Salesperson
13. Consultants
14. HR professionals
15. Skilled Trade Worker
16. Engineer
17. Photographer
18. Therapist
19. Manager
20. High end programmer

Disclaimer / Caveat: Whatever has been stated is based on publicly available information, and  the post does not represent the view of the organization the author works for. The article reflects the views of the writer alone and does not seek to offend any community within or outside India. Its purpose is to purely encourage discussion.

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