People Debate Which Professions Will Die Out Within A Decade

With the rise of AI and automation, many careers feel like they could be on the chopping block.

As much as some life advancements in science and labor have been brilliant, many human-based positions are deemed irrelevant.

Redditor Toomad316 wanted to discuss the jobs that are becoming obsolete, so they asked:

"Which profession is going to get wiped out in the next 5-10 years?"

Everybody...

"By the looks of it, being a federal employee."

- Ok_Stop7366

"Them, and us who rely on federal funding for our jobs. I'm a research administrator at a university, and let's just say that things aren't looking too hot right now."

- momasana

Episode 12 GIF by FriendsGiphy

AI

"12 years ago, I got a job as a computer operator (basically, spending all day entering commands into a green screen from a checklist), and I thought back then that the job would be automated by AI within years. Today, I'm still in the industry (promoted now, though) and I know there's a guy in my company doing exactly the job I did years ago."

"The moral of the story is there's a lot of jobs out there that could be replaced by AI, but most companies aren't willing to put in that investment unless it becomes super, super cheap to do so."

- tocsin1990

The Editor

"I used to do court transcription (not stenography). Basically, I download an audio file and type what's spoken in the courtroom verbatim (within style rules). The industry has been trying to implement speech-to-text software for years but it's been too crap up until very recently. I've since upskilled to an 'editor' where instead of typing manually I correct the generated transcript."

"It still struggles with speaker differentiation and formatting but it's improved so drastically within the last 3 years it's only a matter of time until traditional transcriptionists are no longer necessary."

- Palebisi

Truthseekers

"Journalist apparently."

- wildmewtwo

"I’m part of a locally owned newspaper in South Central Kansas. We knew the only way for this to work was to make it a hyper-local county paper. We have a strong newsroom and have made a positive impact in our local communities. You’d be amazed at some of the good ol’ boy s**t that goes on in smaller communities. We also had to be super-engaged in our communities as well. Hosting concerts and events as well as creating our own local group, much like a chamber of commerce."

"We also have a crazy YouTube channel, much like the old public access TV shows. With all that said, there is no way in hell I would ever be part of a large newspaper chain. They’re often owned by hedge funds and picked to the bare bones giving the world the sh*ttiest journalism known to mankind. Makes me sick. Please, support your local papers and tell the big boys to suck it."

- BeerGent1967

Briefs

"Paralegals. It’s scary but the legal world is embracing AI. Everyone heard about those lawyers who used ChatGPT and it cited case law that didn’t exist, but no one’s talking about how LexisNexis developed their own AI that won’t do that."

"If an AI can summarize case law, write a brief, generate court documents- what does the paralegal do?"

"The only saving grace is that there are plenty of old lawyers out there who don’t even know how to e-file documents, so that may delay it a bit."

- Visual_Refuse_6547

Cut in Half

"Any sort of translation work."

- sharkmouthgr

"My wife is a translator, and this is something she is really concerned about. Her projects were cut in half this year compared to 2024."

- jak_hungerford

Translation GIF by TolgeeGiphy

Driverless

"About 10 years ago there were similar questions being asked, and a common answer was truck driving. People thought that driverless trucking was going to happen soon. I put a significant chunk of my investment money into places working towards this tech."

"Thankfully Volvo stock has done okay since then, but most others I’ve long since bailed on. It feels like we are no nearer to the driverless trucking tech taking over than we were back then."

"So whatever the popular answer here is, I won’t believe it, and I won’t be making stock picks based on it."

- eingram

Local

"I do digital marketing for small local businesses."

"We do their social media, websites, google ads, newsletters, blogs, etc. with the way AI is advancing, I really worry that people won’t need someone to market for them anymore."

"Like that’s still way down the line, but I’m in my 20s. What is this industry going to look like when I’m 50?"

"It’s already really hard to find a job."

- littlemybb

The Helpers

"I would have to say traditional local in person bank tellers and walk in banks. I'm already seeing these new type of banks showing up. They look like gas stations without the stores and the gas pumps are video ATMs. To do your banking, you drive up to the ATM, request what service you want and if that service requires a teller, you'll be connected to a call center teller (quite possibly an overseas one or AI)."

"If you need to cash a check or deposit money , you just enter them into the ATM. The downside to these is the massive loss of local teller job. You'll no longer have someone from your community to help you with your banking needs."

- Spastic_pinkie

Say Yes to the Dress

"Bridal and formal wear stores/stylists. We’re already seeing stores close now at rapid rates. People are buying their wedding dresses and prom/homecoming dresses from SHEIN, Amazon and other cheaper online retailers like Azazie. Brides still try and book appointments and tell us, oh I have a dress, I just didn’t get the 'Say Yes to the Dress' experience, so I want to come in and try stuff on. We can’t compete with a $50 dress, and brides are caring less and less about quality, because 'I’m only wearing it for a few hours.'"

"Some bridal shop owners think they can ban together and write their congressional leaders and senators and stop people from buying online, and I said you really can’t. There’s really no way to take back the industry. We are in the age of fast fashion, and cheap prices. Gone are the days of spending $1500 on a wedding dress, shopping with your mom, and waiting 6-9 months for it to come in. It’s not about educating them, and teaching them about quality. It’s a different generation, and we either get with the times or we get out."

- MacisBeerGutBabyBump

Twitter Issues

"My friend is an artist. She made a living off commissions on Twitter. That site going to crap and the rise of AI has already caused her to lose 80-90% of the commissions she was getting a few years ago. She’s currently working a minimum wager to keep what she can in her account while she figures out what to do."

- Beautiful-Aerie7576

On the Horizon

"Customer service + call centers are gonna see a lot of trouble with Agentic AI on the horizon. Not good because that industry employs millions of people across the world."

- InevitableOne8421

Season 5 Comfort GIF by NBCGiphy

Crisis

"As a therapist, hopefully not. AI seems to tell people what they want to hear rather than effectively challenging people, being able to help reframe things, or understanding different therapy modalities, never mind it couldn’t manage a crisis. I don’t think it could ever properly diagnose clients."

- Hyltrbbygrl

Feed the Text

"Audiobook Narrators. I am related to one and know several others. Apparently, they've combined existing voices to make different types of AI voice. Feed the text of a book into the AI, wait a bit, and you have an audiobook. It has already caused a significant reduction in the amount of available work."

- soconn

Through Online

"I recently was hired as a bank teller, but definitely that. The vast majority of the transactions that I process can already be done through online banking, the mobile app, or an ATM. We mainly serve customers that aren’t technologically inclined, and that customer demographic gets smaller and smaller every day."

- kai2124

Downsized

"I strongly believe radiology will be HEAVILY downsized in the next 5-10 years with the improvements in AI. So in my opinion, any premeds should keep this in mind when thinking about specialties."

- JizzleOfficial

Artificial Intelligence Ai GIF by Emil LindénGiphy

The Terminator movies warned us.

But humans never listen.

So many of these jobs need a human person doing it.

Do you have any jobs to add to this list?