AI Won’t Take Your Job But Someone Who Knows AI Will
You’ve heard the scary headlines that AI is coming for your job.
The reality is different. AI isn’t the threat. The threat is the person who learns how to use it before you do.
AI is already changing the workplace. Research shows that AI can automate or augment around a quarter of the tasks across most jobs. That doesn’t mean jobs vanish. It means the way we do them shifts. In Australia, 79 percent of jobs have a low risk of being fully automated but a high chance of being reshaped by AI. Public sector trials overseas have already shown generative AI tools handling the workload of over a thousand full time employees in just a few months. The conclusion is simple. AI won’t erase your role but it will raise the bar.
I literally was at the local coffee shop today and ran into someone I know doing councilling diploma (in her 40’s). She has been doing it 6 years part time and will finish in a year and a half. She only was this many years old when I said are you using Chat GPT at least to help you research your assignments etc. Her response “no wonder those younger ones are all over it doing way better assignments” … I don’t care how far out of your comfort zone technology feels, your first step, go into your web browser and at least download Chat GPT and ask it a question… anything.
Take Maria and James. Maria was a senior marketing manager who brushed off AI as a fad. James spent his lunch breaks playing with prompts, learning how to cut research time in half and deliver sharper ideas. Within six months James wasn’t just quicker, he was more strategic. When the promotion decision came, James was the obvious choice. AI didn’t replace Maria. James just became too valuable to ignore.
Here’s how to make sure you stay in James’s camp.
1 - First, audit your tasks. Write down everything you do in a week and circle the repetitive or time heavy parts.
2 - Second, learn how to ask AI the right questions. A simple way is to think in terms of CPR: context, purpose, result. For example, say “You are a marketing analyst. Here is customer survey data. Summarise the top three complaints in simple language.” But before you ask,
3 - Clean your data. Delete outdated files, rename documents clearly, and organise folders so AI isn’t sifting through junk.
4 - Use AI for speed but layer on your judgment. Let it sketch the first draft but you provide the insight, the story, and the credibility.
5 - Share what you learn. Run a short “three things I tried with AI this week” in a team huddle. The more you become the translator of AI for others, the more you become indispensable.
AI will not decide your future. Your ability to use it will.