7 Jobs of the Future that will be Held by Humans, Not Robots

Written by Nicole Henderson
February 7, 2017

Focus on building skills now to be indispensable in the tech company of the future.

Editor’s Note: Want to learn more about Whiz Bang Wonders like artificial intelligence? Be sure to check out the latest special report by Penton Technology’s Channel Group.

FuturaCorp is not a unicorn. It’s not a Fortune 500. In fact, it’s not even a real company. It’s an imaginary business that represents the company of the future, created by researchers to provide a blueprint for the successful adoption of AI into business and society.

The Futuracorp: Artificial Intelligence and the Freedom to be Human report, commissioned by IPsoft, used a variety of methods including economic modeling, co-creation experiments and workshops and conceptual mapping and design thinking. The result is a glimpse at the workplace of the future, where humans are not replaced by machines, but rather work in conjunction with their artificially intelligent colleagues.

“The idea for the study came from a set of questions at the heart of integrating AI in the industry,” Chetan Dube, IPsoft CEO and president said in a foreword to the report. “How will AI transform our world? How can AI boost productivity as well as the value each employee can generate? How will workflows change – and what are the implications for job roles and the skillsets that are required to succeed in this new economy? Finally, how will AI change business itself, and what are the strategic considerations a CEO must make?”

In the next ten years more than 80 percent of repetitive tasks will be done by machines, but more than 80 percent of creative work will continue to be done by humans. Jobs will fit into three main roles: deterministic roles, probabilistic roles, and cross-functional roles.

Deterministic roles: Will be rare, and focus on maintenance and management of machines
Probabilistic roles: Humans work closely with machines, dealing with information to product relevant outputs
Cross-functional roles: The majority of these roles will be held by humans, requiring social intelligence, conflict resolution skills, and emotional intelligence

So what will these roles held by humans look like? Click through the slideshow to see 7 jobs that will exist for humans in the age of AI everywhere.

These job roles and descriptions are based off of IPsoft’s report, which you can download in full on its website.

Talkin’ Cloud Wants to Know…

How are you preparing for the workplace of the future? Is your organization embracing AI? Let us know in the comments.