TL;DR: The development of AI raises fears of job loss, but history teaches us that technology creates new professions. Check how to adapt your skills to the new reality.
According to forecasts and observations, protests against artificial intelligence have already begun, and the group that started the most organized and media-covered protests is creative communities and entertainment industry workers.
📅 When Did the Protests Begin?
Organized large-scale protests began in 2023.
- July 2023 (USA): Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA and WGA) began historic strikes. Although the main subject of the dispute was general working conditions and pay in the streaming era, a key and strong demand was the REGULATION AND LIMITATION of AI use to replace actors and writers. These protests lasted for months and had a global resonance.
- Also in 2023, visual artist communities began filing the first class-action lawsuits against companies creating generative AI models (e.g., Stability AI, Midjourney), arguing that these models were trained on their works without consent and compensation, which is de facto a form of legal protest.
🥇 Which Group Will Be First?
The group that organized protests earliest and most visibly is:
➡️ Creative Communities and Entertainment Industry Workers 🎭🎨
Why them first?
- Direct existential threat: Generative AI models (text, visual, audio) directly and instantly threaten the foundation of their livelihood – copyright and the unique value of their creativity.
- Ease of identifying the problem: Unlike more abstract issues such as algorithmic bias, AI copyright infringement is easy to demonstrate (e.g., AI generating an image in the style of a specific artist).
- Organized structures: Actors and writers have strong labor unions (Guilds) with extensive experience in organizing strikes and negotiations, which allowed for rapid mobilization.
- High media visibility: Protests in Hollywood naturally generate massive media interest, increasing their impact.
🔮 What Next? Other Protesting Groups
After creative communities, the most likely groups to join are:
- Office Worker and “White-Collar” Labor Unions: As AI begins to displace workers in administrative, accounting, or customer service positions, their protests will become more visible and organized.
- Ethics and Civil Rights Activists: Their protests will focus on issues of privacy, surveillance, and the use of AI in the justice system and law enforcement.
In summary, protests against AI are the present, not the future, and creatives are the leaders of the opposition.
📉 Job Positions Most Threatened by AI (First 5 Years)
The following positions perform a large portion of tasks that AI can automate, accelerate, or take over, potentially leading to job reductions.
💼 Office Support and Administration
These roles often involve routine information processing, which is ideal for AI.
- Data Entry Clerk
- Administrative Assistant/Secretary (especially in scheduling and correspondence)
- HR and Payroll Specialist (in routine administration and initial recruitment screening)
- Archivist/Librarian (in cataloging and information retrieval)
📞 Customer Service and Call Centers
AI can handle a large portion of inquiries without human intervention.
- Call Center Agent (handling routine inquiries and Tier 1 tech support)
- Technical Support Specialist (for simple, repetitive issues)
- Telemarketer (for automated calling and lead qualification)
📊 Finance and Accounting
Routine tasks, such as bookkeeping and auditing, are becoming the domain of algorithms.
- Accountant/Accounting Technician (in preparing, entering, and reconciling transactions)
- Financial Analyst (in gathering data and creating basic forecasts and reports)
- Insurance Claims Specialist (in processing and evaluating simple claims)
✍️ Content and Media
Generative AI can quickly create large amounts of low-level content.
- Copywriter/Content Editor (creating simple product descriptions, summaries, social media posts)
- Translator (especially non-specialist texts or technical documents)
- Proofreader/Copyeditor
- Graphic Designer (creating templated graphics and simple designs for digital marketing)
💻 Information Technology (IT)
Even in IT, some roles will be automated.
- Software Developer (especially juniors and those writing repetitive code; AI assists/generates code)
- Software Tester (in routine test automation)
Important Note: This threat does not always mean complete dismissal. It often means a change in the scope of duties – employees will have to supervise and verify AI work instead of performing it manually. Staff reductions will occur where AI allows handling the same or a larger amount of work with fewer employees.
FAQ – Job Market and AI
Which professions are most threatened by AI? Those based on data processing and repetitive patterns. Creative and relationship-based professions are safer.
