AI in Education and Workplace

[GeauxSioux]

I have been having conversations with my children and friends about what AI means for their future and which jobs will be impacted the most and least by AI. 

My children are of the age where they will start choosing careers.  I have a daughter that I was pushing toward paralegal a couple of years ago, since she had a mind for that type of work.  She thankfully wasn't interested.  I met a judge at a conference last month who told me that with AI, paralegals wouldn't be really needed anymore.  Most of the research will be done with AI.  He even said that he had AI produce a judgement for one of his cases, just to test it.  Results were in line with what he had determined.

I have a son in college and he hears other students using ChatGPT for their studies/papers.  The instructors see this as inevitable.  Education will suffer.

I was talking to an associate last week regarding fire alarm design.  He said that there is a CAD program update with AI coming out that will review your drawings and provide comments, typically what a reviewing engineer would do.

I see the trades as being somewhat immune to AI.  How will jobs such as marketing and finance do in the AI workplace?  Other jobs?  Thoughts?

[Cratter]

The world is divided into two categories: mental and physical. Ai is just a production multiplier - not much different than ones previously introduced: calculators, internet,CAD, tax software.

"Mental jobs" are a relatively newish category. The physical world has been dealing with this forever: the chainsaw vs axe, the introduction of the paint sprayer.

Seems to me, for every job that's been lost due to technology.  Two or three are created. Jobs are created by wants. I want this, I want that.  Wants continue to climb every passing year. 

 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1 hour ago, GeauxSioux said:

I have been having conversations with my children and friends about what AI means for their future and which jobs will be impacted the most and least by AI. 

My children are of the age where they will start choosing careers.  I have a daughter that I was pushing toward paralegal a couple of years ago, since she had a mind for that type of work.  She thankfully wasn't interested.  I met a judge at a conference last month who told me that with AI, paralegals wouldn't be really needed anymore.  Most of the research will be done with AI.  He even said that he had AI produce a judgement for one of his cases, just to test it.  Results were in line with what he had determined.

I have a son in college and he hears other students using ChatGPT for their studies/papers.  The instructors see this as inevitable.  Education will suffer.

I was talking to an associate last week regarding fire alarm design.  He said that there is a CAD program update with AI coming out that will review your drawings and provide comments, typically what a reviewing engineer would do.

I see the trades as being somewhat immune to AI.  How will jobs such as marketing and finance do in the AI workplace?  Other jobs?  Thoughts?

Field staff sure, but you can do much more with less on the office side.

[Cratter]

The fun really starts when you extrapolate it to AI + Robots. What will society look like? 

Probably like the introduction of the automobile. Who would have thought we all would have to buy something that costs $40k+ brand new just to be a functioning member of society? 

[SIOUXFAN97]

4 hours ago, GeauxSioux said:

I have been having conversations with my children and friends about what AI means for their future and which jobs will be impacted the most and least by AI. 

My children are of the age where they will start choosing careers.  I have a daughter that I was pushing toward paralegal a couple of years ago, since she had a mind for that type of work.  She thankfully wasn't interested.  I met a judge at a conference last month who told me that with AI, paralegals wouldn't be really needed anymore.  Most of the research will be done with AI.  He even said that he had AI produce a judgement for one of his cases, just to test it.  Results were in line with what he had determined.

I have a son in college and he hears other students using ChatGPT for their studies/papers.  The instructors see this as inevitable.  Education will suffer.

I was talking to an associate last week regarding fire alarm design.  He said that there is a CAD program update with AI coming out that will review your drawings and provide comments, typically what a reviewing engineer would do.

I see the trades as being somewhat immune to AI.  How will jobs such as marketing and finance do in the AI workplace?  Other jobs?  Thoughts?

dirty jobs galore.....

[Walsh Hall]

I'm glad (late 40's) that I'll likely be hanging up my working days in the next decade.  I feel bad for folks just starting out.  So many of the safe "professional" jobs will likely be vastly different in the coming years.  Finance, accounting, legal, much of medical can and likely will be replaced.  I'd have a hard time encouraging someone to start educating themselves for many of those fields thinking that for the next 40 years they will be needed in the capacity they currently are.

Same goes for many more "medial" jobs which can be replaced by automatic processes which can work non-stop.

[HoopsFan03]

1 hour ago, Walsh Hall said:

Finance, accounting, legal, much of medical can and likely will be replaced.

This simply will not be the case

[Walsh Hall]

Accounting and legal is already happening to a large degree.  You think a CPA can possess the knowledge of AI?  Same goes for medical diagnosis.   Import your tax information and have a tax return in minutes.  Larger law firms aren't hiring nearly as many fresh attorneys as their research and document drafting can be handled better and more efficiently than a human by legal AI platforms.  Type your tax or legal question into a firms AI program and get an answer in seconds without paying for hours of research for a potentially incomplete answer.  Need a HR policy, contract, mutual release, etc... done in seconds.  The large financial and wealth management firms are developing/have developed AI based models. 

Any routine transactional work is in trouble, and the VAST majority of the work in the fields I named is routine and transactional in nature.   

[SIOUXFAN97]

where does the blockchain come into play wih AI

[Cratter]

The legal system will all be online.  Your aI vs prosecutors ai with the ai judge deciding. 

The average non rich person might have a decent chance now. 

[Cratter]

Speaking of legal system,  its extremely flawed. The jury minority opinion will side with the majority just to "get it over. "

"So you're telling me there was a reasonable doubt but I was still convicted? "

[Walsh Hall]

14 minutes ago, Cratter said:

The legal system will all be online.  Your aI vs prosecutors ai with the ai judge deciding. 

That would be one of the very last to go.  It's the transactional stuff that is toast in the very near future... estate planning, tax avoidance, real estate transactions, contracts, briefing cases...

[HoopsFan03]

1 hour ago, Walsh Hall said:

Accounting and legal is already happening to a large degree.  You think a CPA can possess the knowledge of AI?  Same goes for medical diagnosis.   Import your tax information and have a tax return in minutes.  Larger law firms aren't hiring nearly as many fresh attorneys as their research and document drafting can be handled better and more efficiently than a human by legal AI platforms.  Type your tax or legal question into a firms AI program and get an answer in seconds without paying for hours of research for a potentially incomplete answer.  Need a HR policy, contract, mutual release, etc... done in seconds.  The large financial and wealth management firms are developing/have developed AI based models. 

Any routine transactional work is in trouble, and the VAST majority of the work in the fields I named is routine and transactional in nature.   

Do you even realize what you’re saying right now???

AI is not taking the place of CPA’s or lawyers or doctors LOL

Just because certain fields have some transactional work does not mean AI is replacing the majority of the field. Let’s think logically a bit here 

[Walsh Hall]

I can tell you that financial planners, accountants, and attorneys who do transactional work (folks that I work with on a daily basis) fully believe that their jobs will be vastly different in a short period of time.

Go on a quality AI system, not even a specialized one, and ask a complex financial, tax, or legal question.  Ask it to draft you a purchase agreement, giving it proper prompts.  Scan in your medical records or blood test results and have it analysis it for you.

Speak with partners in large law, accounting, and wealth management firms.  They will tell you that for routine matters AI in vastly superior.  A sizeable chunk of the grunt work the youngsters at Ernest & Young used to do is being performed by AI.  

Go to meetings for these professions.  AI is a major discussion point both on and off the record, so to speak.  The firms are seeking to capitalize on the AI advancements with the big firms leading the way.  It's more prevalent in the large firms, but it's coming and trickling down.

Nearly everything a CPA or wealth adviser does is transactional.  For lawyers it's not a ton less.

[HoopsFan03]

3 hours ago, Walsh Hall said:

I can tell you that financial planners, accountants, and attorneys who do transactional work (folks that I work with on a daily basis) fully believe that their jobs will be vastly different in a short period of time.

Go on a quality AI system, not even a specialized one, and ask a complex financial, tax, or legal question.  Ask it to draft you a purchase agreement, giving it proper prompts.  Scan in your medical records or blood test results and have it analysis it for you.

Speak with partners in large law, accounting, and wealth management firms.  They will tell you that for routine matters AI in vastly superior.  A sizeable chunk of the grunt work the youngsters at Ernest & Young used to do is being performed by AI.  

Go to meetings for these professions.  AI is a major discussion point both on and off the record, so to speak.  The firms are seeking to capitalize on the AI advancements with the big firms leading the way.  It's more prevalent in the large firms, but it's coming and trickling down.

Nearly everything a CPA or wealth adviser does is transactional.  For lawyers it's not a ton less.

Whatever you want to believe, but 95% of what you just said is simply not true. 

AI is a supplement to help complete tasks more efficiently is some of the fields you are listing. However, it is not a replacement for the majority of those jobs. You still need humans to give AI the inputs. You still need humans to analyze & audit the outputs from the AI. And then you also need humans to act on the data that you get from the AI to help the company be successful.

That's at least been my experience working in one of those fields for a 100+ billion dollar company. People are overly scared of AI for no reason. Been like that for years.

I would absolutely still recommend kids to go to school to become doctors, lawyers, CPA's, etc. And that isn't changing any time soon.

[The Sicatoka]

AI? Check.
In education? Check. 

But not a good thing ... check.
https://www.am1100theflag.com/news/wrigley-law-enforcement-to-discuss-investigation-into-creation-distribution-of-unlawful-images-in-fargo/ 
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2025/09/23/students-under-investigation-davies-high-school/ 

[GeauxSioux]

As AI threatens white-collar work, more young Americans choose blue-collar careers

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Experts say the skilled trades — jobs like electricians, plumbers, welders, masons, HVAC technicians and other occupations requiring extensive training and often licensing — are attracting a growing number of young people put off by high tuition costs.....

....More recently, signs that artificial intelligence is starting to gobble up the kind of entry-level jobs that once went to young college graduates are also leading young workers to consider the trades. Some 77% of Gen Zers say it's important that their future job is hard to automate, with many pointing to professions like carpenter, plumber, and electrician as occupations they believe are safe from automation. By contrast, they see less security in fields like software development, data analytics, and accounting, according to the survey.

Quote

More recently, economists also point to a jump in unemployment for recent college grads, which some experts say is an early warning sign that AI is taking jobs away from less experienced workers. The jobless rate for 23-to-27-year-old college grads this year now hovers around 4.6%, up from 3.2% for the same demographic in 2019. 

Strikingly, non-college-educated workers in the same age range have experienced a much smaller uptick in unemployment, at roughly 0.5%, over the same period, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.