The robots aren’t coming. They’re already right here.
Final week, I had a chat with my accountant, a 45-year veteran who mentioned his son’s job simply obtained changed by ChatGPT. I received’t title the agency in London. Not downsized. Not restructured. Changed.
Whereas everybody’s debating whether or not AI will take over the world, it’s quietly taking up paychecks. Goldman Sachs warns that AI might displace 300 million jobs worldwide, and AI has already eradicated 76,440 jobs in 2025 alone.
However right here’s what no person’s telling you: it’s not occurring randomly. There’s a sample. 5 particular industries are getting hit first, hardest, and quickest. For those who work in any of those sectors, this isn’t a warning — it’s a countdown.
Bear in mind when attorneys charged $500/hour to assessment contracts? These days are over.
AI authorized platforms like Harvey and DoNotPay are already dealing with duties that used to require years of legislation faculty and many years of expertise. Doc assessment, contract evaluation, authorized analysis — all being automated at lightning pace.
The brutal actuality: A junior lawyer can assessment perhaps 20 contracts per day. AI can course of 2,000 in the identical time with 99.7% accuracy.
Actual instance: Linklaters, one of many world’s largest legislation companies, makes use of AI to assessment business contracts in minutes as an alternative of hours.
What was once a $50,000 job for a workforce of associates is now a $500 software program subscription. Who’s getting hit first:
The irony? The identical occupation that writes employment legislation is about to study what “at-will employment” actually means.
My youthful sister is a legislation pupil with loads of work expertise, however she nonetheless hasn’t been in a position to land a job in legislation — particularly now with the rise of AI. I’ve suggested her to reskill, as a result of I simply don’t see legislation companies hiring anybody as of late, and I really feel for the youthful technology.
voronaman / Shutterstock
In case your job includes spreadsheets, pivot tables, and reconciling accounts, you’re residing on borrowed time. AI accounting software program like MindBridge and AppZen can now detect fraud, course of invoices, and generate monetary reviews sooner than any human workforce. They don’t take espresso breaks, by no means make calculation errors, and work 24/7.
The mathematics is straightforward: Why pay a workforce of accountants £60,000+ every when AI can do their mixed work for the price of one wage?
Actual instance: JPMorgan’s COIN (Contract Intelligence) program processes in seconds what used to take authorized and accounting groups 360,000 hours yearly.
That’s equal to 180 full-time staff — gone. Monetary capabilities are being automated:
The accountant who changed my accountant’s son? It doesn’t have a reputation, only a model quantity: GPT-4.
Whereas medical doctors and nurses really feel protected, healthcare’s huge administrative workforce is hemorrhaging jobs to AI. Medical coding, insurance coverage claims processing, appointment scheduling, affected person information entry — all getting steamrolled by clever automation. The AI doesn’t want to grasp bedside method; it simply must course of claims sooner than people can say “prior authorisation.”
The prognosis is terminal: Healthcare administration employs hundreds of thousands of individuals doing repetitive, rule-based duties that AI excels at.
Actual instance: Anthem makes use of AI to course of over 200 million medical claims yearly, decreasing processing time from weeks to minutes and slicing administrative prices by 30%. Positions being eradicated:
The merciless irony? AI is making healthcare extra environment friendly by making healthcare employees unemployed.
Yuri A / Shutterstock
Customer support representatives are going through extinction sooner than pandas. AI chatbots and voice assistants now deal with 80% of routine buyer inquiries with out human intervention. They by no means get annoyed, don’t want sick days, and may concurrently assist hundreds of consumers.
The customer support apocalypse: Why preserve costly name facilities when AI can resolve most points immediately?
Actual instance: Financial institution of America’s digital assistant Erica handles over 1 billion buyer interactions yearly.
That’s equal to changing hundreds of name heart brokers who every deal with perhaps 50–100 calls per day. Jobs vanishing in a single day:
The subsequent time you chat with “customer support,” you is perhaps speaking to a machine that’s extra affected person and educated than any human ever was.
Content material creation and information administration — two fields that appeared uniquely human — are being colonised by AI at breakneck pace. GPT-4, Claude, and different AI fashions can write articles, create advertising and marketing copy, analyze information, and generate reviews sooner than any human workforce. They don’t have author’s block, by no means miss deadlines, and work for pennies on the greenback.
The content material creation disaster: Why rent writers, editors, and information analysts when AI can produce comparable work in minutes?
Actual instance: The Related Press makes use of AI to put in writing hundreds of earnings reviews and sports activities summaries yearly.
What used to require a newsroom stuffed with reporters is now dealt with by algorithms. Inventive careers in danger:
Essentially the most devastating half? AI isn’t simply changing these jobs — it’s making them out of date. AI might doubtlessly substitute round 800 million jobs worldwide by 2030, with 70% of staff believing generative AI would change 30% or extra of their work.
For those who work in any of those 5 sectors, you could have two decisions:
Evolve: Study AI instruments, give attention to artistic and strategic work that enhances AI, and develop uniquely human abilities like emotional intelligence and sophisticated problem-solving.
Get changed: Preserve doing the identical routine duties that AI can now do higher, sooner, and cheaper.
The businesses making these adjustments aren’t evil. They’re environment friendly. Effectivity doesn’t ship sympathy playing cards.
The roles are altering, not disappearing completely. However just for these good sufficient to vary with them.
The robotic revolution isn’t coming. It’s right here. And it’s hiring.
Tony Momoh is a author, storyteller, and common contributor to Medium, the place he shares insights on expertise, productiveness, and private progress. With a ardour for making advanced concepts accessible, Tony’s articles encourage readers to assume in a different way and take significant motion.
