Experts Draw the Alarm: Copywriters, Paralegals and Other Creatives Being Replaced with Chatbots

A new report in MSN reveals how generative AI like ChatGPT is taking away jobs – and not just entry-level jobs but creative ones that are essential for the middle class.

One case cited in the report is a copywriter who lost all 10 of his clients in the last four months and is now training to become a plumber. Others have started walking dogs or fixing air conditioners.

Jobs in copywriting, marketing, document translation and paralegal work are at risk, with one expert saying that they have tasks that can easily be done by chatbots.

From the report:

“Experts say that even advanced AI doesn’t match the writing skills of a human: It lacks personal voice and style, and it often churns out wrong, nonsensical or biased answers. But for many companies, the cost-cutting is worth a drop in quality. “We’re really in a crisis point,” said Sarah T. Roberts, an associate professor at University of California in Los Angeles specializing in digital labor. “[AI] is coming for the jobs that were supposed to be automation-proof…”

The technology’s ability to churn out human-sounding prose puts highly paid knowledge workers in the crosshairs for replacement, experts said. “In every previous automation threat, the automation was about automating the hard, dirty, repetitive jobs,” said Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. “This time, the automation threat is aimed squarely at the highest-earning, most creative jobs that … require the most educational background.” In March, Goldman Sachs predicted that 18 percent of work worldwide could be automated by AI, with white-collar workers such as lawyers at more risk than those in trades such as construction or maintenance. “Occupations for which a significant share of workers’ time is spent outdoors or performing physical labor cannot be automated by AI”.

Also read: How to Prove You Didn’t Use ChatGPT: One Simple Trick to Avoid ChatGPT Plagiarism Accusations

Considering how disruptive generative AI and ChatGPT have been in the past year, it’s clear that, going forward, some legislation will be needed to deal with it. 

Right now, not even the issue of ChatGPT plagiarism has a clear solution, with authors whose work was scraped to train the AI not being asked for consent and not seeing any compensation in return. If you also consider ChatGPT, BardAI and other chatbots hallucinating responses and making up data, a problem with generative AI few have a solution for, the future looks murky indeed.

Also read: ChatGPT Passes Final MBA Exam from Wharton with B and B-