“It Is Inevitable”: 27 Professions That May Soon Disappear, As Shared By People In This Thread
Interview
We like to think of ourselves as irreplaceable. Especially when it comes to the jobs we do. But with our lifestyles changing, technological advancement broadening our horizons and just in the last year, artificial intelligence proving it can do a whole lot more than we gave it credit for, we start to wonder.
What if some professions we can’t imagine our world without right now will cease to exist in the very near future?
Well, people in this Ask Reddit thread are now weighing in on the possibility of that happening by sharing the professions that they believe will become obsolete sooner than we think.
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“A number of professions are at risk of becoming obsolete in the future due to automation and technological advances,” Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts with over 20 years of experience empowering leaders and organizations to avoid business disasters, told Bored Panda.
“For example, jobs that involve routine tasks and data entry may be replaced by software and algorithms. Some manual labor jobs may also be replaced by robots or machines,” Dr. Tsipursky explained.
“Additionally, as more and more transactions and communication move online, there may be a decrease in the need for certain in-person service jobs,” Dr. Tsipursky added.
Tiktoker
Twitter employee
“Another way that technology can contribute to the obsolescence of certain professions is by making certain skills or knowledge less relevant,” Dr. Tsipursky continued. “For example, as online resources become more widely available and easy to access, there may be a decrease in the demand for certain jobs that involve providing information or education, such as librarians or encyclopedia writers.”
Travel agent, idk why those are still a thing
Some people cannot access or even know how to use the internet but want to book holidays. Also it can help to speak to an adviser about a holiday to give you more ideas.
Also great if you want to go on vacation but hate planning.
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We booked so called holidays of a lifetime through travel agent and it was absolutely fantastic. We are in Europe, trip was to Peru. We have never even been to the continent. They planned and booked everything - flights, local transfers, guides, hotels and entry tickets to sites. I would not use agent for holidays on the beach or a city break but in this case it was worth it. They even rearranged schedule and sorted new transfer/hotel when our flight to Peru was delayed by 18 hours, they made it stress free and smooth for us.
Travel agents are a godsend to those of us who have to travel often for business. I can't spend my whole day looking at multiple airlines / aggregators to find the perfect flight(s), if there is something wrong I can't just drop everything I'm doing to fix them - Whereas travel agents are able to solve all those for me. I remember on a trip a few years back I had a bad fall during the trip and someone told our travel agent - I don't know what she did and how she managed it, she was able to find an upgrade for me at the same cost (different airline) so I would have space to put up my very sprained ankle for the flight back, at no additional cost to the company and while it was not aligned with policy, helped me in a way where the exception was approved.
we used to have somebody like that and aparantly she was amazing. Now we just have a system that kind of works, but i dread the day i need to contact support
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I have recectly started using travel agents again and they are great! Most of the time they have been to where you want to go and can give you great insight. The trips cost the same or even less than booking online. Lastly, if anything goes wrong they are one phone call away to help with any issues. Lastly, they do all the booking.
I was checking in at an airport an overheard 2 airline employees laughing about the person they turned away who bought their ticket to China online not realizing they needed a visa. They probably should have used a travel agent. Or the people who were pleased with their online airfare deal until they got off the plane in Sydney Nova Scotia Canada instead of Sydney Australia.
Booking flights can be complicated if you want to save some money by not booking the most direct route
Travel agent is a rich person luxury. Also, have you ever tried booking a trip for 18 people? Probably not. That's also their job. Just because you don't understand something does not mean it's a defunct job.
Exactly. I worked very briefly for a luxury travel agency in Kyoto. Their speciality was catering for large families, but they also had loads of links to exclusive experiences and guides that you could not get as an independent person booking. These people were dropping $30,000 on a week trip and wanted the best.
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Oh man, we have a travel agent we use for cruises and I will ALWAYS use her. She gets us way better deals than we could ever get on the internet. Cruises can be complex to book - she knows all the best staterooms, gets us perks we wouldn't be able to get on our own, has been to many of the locations the ships visit so knows about the tours. I will NEVER book one on my own - she's that good. And I love planning vacations, so this says a lot.
You apparently have never tried to book a vacation for a large group of people!
Went on a holiday recently that was booked by an agent. It was fantastic. He found us a wonderful place to stay that we never would have found, as well as great rates on everything he booked. I was very impressed.
very useful for complex trips, like I have to spend 3 days in London, then 2 days in Frankfurt, then to Cairo for 2 days, back to London for a 1 day meeting and I have to be in Mexico City the day after the London meeting. ---- Try booking that on Expiedia
Considering some of the travel nightmares folks have experienced during and since Covid, professional travel agents can really help dealing with cancelation, rebooking, refunds, etc
My wife and i booked a cruise a few years back. After booking it we noticed the price went down we contacted the travel agent and they got us on board credit. The price dropped several times between when we booked an when we sailed Don't think the online booking sites do that.
Travel agents to book regular flights are on the way out but they continue to be a thing for more specialized, high end or boutique vacations.
We used one and it was great. They knew the best places in the city for a hotel (instead of us accidentally booking in the slums or something), gave us an entire list of activites to pick from and made all our reservations for us. Completely stress free.
Travel agents can actually be really helpful and can help you save money because they may work with a company to get discounts for clients. But this is why I changed my major from travel/tourism.
Try booking for groups. Do you want to deal with the hassle of six or eight or 12 people's arrangements? Nope. That's when you want an agent. I have to bring six people up from LA for an event I am running and you are sure as hell right I'm using an agency.
I have a friend who's a travel agent and doing really well! It's not just for the technically unsavvy either. She leverages her experience in travel (she used to sing on cruise ships and is married to a S. African safari director) to get really good experiences for people, and leverages her good relationships with travel companies to get really good deals. The companies pay her commission, so it saves the traveler quite a bit of money.
I hope they never disappear. I don’t mind booking my own holiday when I’m heading close to home but, say, we’re planning our honeymoon which will be an Alaskan cruise and you best believe I’m going to a travel agent to help organise the flights, best package, insurance etc.
I'm in my 30s and I plan my own itineraries. Pinterest is also very helpful in this matter. I still have my travel agent on hand to check if they can get me better flight rates than I can find myself. Sometimes when they do group bookings, they get a better rate. I also constantly check visa and other important information with them. I'm from a brown country so I can't just fly anywhere on a whimsy. Travel requirements keep changing. The internet has 100s of opinions of various people. My travel agent has the latest and most current information for me.
Do people not realize that travel agents are also behind the scenes of the travel websites as well? They are very useful, my friend's wife was one for decades, she mainly booked business travel for large companies but she helped me plan my honeymoon, the honeymoon was through a site that i could have booked on my own but she saved me the hassle of searching and planning everything, it cost me the same and she got a good commission.
Because they're fantastic. I can't afford travel these days, but I wouldn't book overseas travel any other way.
Travel agents can do more flexible bookings than websites, not all destinations can help with issues if you book through a site like expedia or travelocity. In Ontario Canada, you want to book with someone that is TICO certified, we get our money back if the supplier goes out of business...They will deal with the crappy stuff so you can enjoy your trip.
I booked an amazing trip through an agent, for almost half of what if would have been using websites. I had a private car/driver, tour guides, amazing hotels (5*)...5 days/4 nights, 1-2 meals a day depending on hotel. when i had searched online, it would have been a group tour (bus), 3 days/2 nights, 3* hotels, 1 meal a day. The price difference was insane, the private trip was about $500-600 US cheaper.
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Travel agents may not be necessary for, say, a one leg return flight and an hotel, but they are indispensable when multiple legs and stops and modes of travel are involved! Doubly so if the trip is cancelled; just try to get the refunds on your own!
I feel like they can be a help on a major trip. Our last trip to PI there were 10 of us going and we let a travel agent they knew find us a good deal. Even with their fee, I still saved about $150 on my RT airfare. And the layover she got us (most of the flights stop in Korea) included a meal and room at a hotel near the airport.
I will always use my travel agent. With the decades of experience and genuine trading and knowledge she has (in stark contrast to Flight Center, Travelocity, and other online sites which often lie about flights, price and availability until you actually go to pay), it is an enormous benefit to have someone who genuinely knows what to do watching your back in case things don’t go as planned.
Some travel agencies do a large part of their work handling group travel and accommodation. Like if there's a conference, a travel agent can book a block of hotel rooms, be the contact for participants about local transit, etc.
Speaking as a travel agent, I can tell you that we're definitely still around - and for good reason. Just ask my client whose cruise was cancelled partway through it, and while others were lined up for hours at the cruise line's desk having to make arrangements she was on the beach having a drink because I was doing all the work for her.
I am pretty good at booking my own travel but when I needed to book a complicated holiday with numerous layovers a few months ago - a travel agent was a great help. I hope they stick around.
I've booked a weekend trip to London including two nights in a hotel room for a better package price than I managed to find myself online.
I had never used an agent but when I was looking into a Disney trip, leaned that the Disney rep/ agent was a free service. It was great! Kept us on track for deadlines, gave tips and advice, found us good deals, A+ would recommend.
Some years ago, we planned a trip for our 10th anniversay. It involved taking a train the LA to visit Disneyland, renting a car to drive to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, flying to San Francisco and taking the train back home. Booking travel on the internet wasn't as much a thing as it is now, but if we were planning that trip today I would still go to a travel agent. Way too many parts to book on my own.
Weather reporters, since eventually so many people will just be looking at it on their phones, that the demand for weather stations will be so low that it's just not worth it anymore.
Moreover, according to Dr. Tsipursky, there are certain skills and knowledge that are likely to remain valuable in the long term, even as technology and other factors change.
For example, creative thinking and problem-solving skills. “These skills are likely to remain valuable as they can be applied in a wide range of fields and situations,” Dr. Tsipursky said.
Communication and interpersonal skills are also here to stay because “the ability to effectively communicate and work with others will likely remain important in many professions,” the disaster avoidance expert explained.
Drive thru workers. MC D's autonomous setup will be industry wide.
This is awful. Siri is powered by the financial muscle of Apple and it still can't understand my accent.
Car salesmen. Yes, because of the apps like Carvanna, but also because car companies are actually searching and experimenting with ways to improve the process because people don't want to work with sales people anymore. I worked for BMW for some time and I saw the things they are trying first hand.
In the US and it would be really nice to have a more straightforward way to buy a car, regardless of how it happens. (For any not familiar with the system, we do have listed prices, but those can be negotiated and historically men tend to get better final prices.)
Local radio DJ.
Outside of *very* small micro-markets, hasn't this already happened? Clear Channel (and Sinclair, I believe) bought up most, if not all, of the large regional stations since the early '90's. They have worked their way down to progressively smaller stations. College stations were being bought up last decade.
Dr. Tsipursky also named adaptability and flexibility as something that will stay valuable in the future. “Being able to adapt to new situations and learn new things quickly will likely be valuable in an ever-changing world.”
Last but not least is the skill of ethical reasoning and decision-making. “As society becomes more complex, the ability to make ethical and well-informed decisions will likely remain important in many professions,” Dr. Tsipursky concluded.
Factory workers. Robots are gonna replace them soon. People are probably gonna still be doing maintenance on the robots but not working in the factories
Mark my words. Animators. AI will start doing animation work for big companies sucking the people's souls and hard work out of the art form. Just you wait! Why pay people to animate when you can teach AI to draw/create each frame by frame for you at lower cost value.
Yeah it won't be in the NEAR future, but in the future most definitely.
That'd also mean a serious detriment in quality for the genre, though. A lot of those hand-drawn details aided by AI/CG are what make animated media so amazing and full of life.
I'm a Copywriter. I recently found out about ChatGPT. So, probably mine?
I don't think so. Even the best copy generators produce content that needs time-consuming tweaking. In many cases it would have been faster to just write it from scratch. And then there's the campaign development/conception part of a copywriter's job. That takes tons of research, creative thought and collaboration.
It may sadden me to think this, but likely mechanical watch makers.
I love my automatics and my mechanical chronograph, but I don't think the smart watch generation will appreciate the mechanical movements as much as previous Gens
Never gonna happen! Just take a look at famous, successful or rich people. They all wear MECHANICAL watches. Classic never dies, in fact just gets more expensive as they age. Try to find a vintage Omega, Rolex or Tudor under $5000, and they are just a silly example. There are automatic watches that cost more then $100.000.
Branch bankers/tellers. You can deposit and withdraw at an atm now, apply for loans, credit cards, and mortgages online. With apps and online banking you can take care of your stuff in your own house instead of going in.
I don't trust ATM deposits. I once had the machine eat my money and say it wasn't adding it to the account, and it took a long while to ever see that cash again. I am officially paranoid.
probably stock photographer, now with AI-generated pictures promising to replace most of that.
My job. I'm a machine operator. Automation will take over.
Underwriters honestly. The entire job will be reduced to a series of algorithms that will be automatically accepted if within certain ranges. Anything beyond the ranges will just be declined.
we have this already in SA. Most of our insurance companies have apps. Latest one you just walk around your car doing a pano or video and they give you a quote which you accept. It then asks for credit card details. Done. It's great. no talking to human idiot call centre people.
Diesel mechanic and not long after that petrol. I’d definitely say in 50 years most people will have electric vehicles with diesel and petrol cars being known as ‘classic cars’
not in africa. Our strongest economy (SA) has major problems supplying electricity merely to citizens and businesses; forget cars for now.
Truck driver. I'm not an Elon Musk Stan. Some company is going to make self-driving trucks and put that industry out of business. It is inevitable.
Again this depends on country. You need good infrastructure and trustworthy roads. Our roads have lots of potholes which requires an intelligent driver to avoid.
Translator. This profession already consists of computer translation editing, and with all the advanced technologies it will be more and more common. Pretty sure, in a few years you won't need one to translate documents.
Accounting. The job will still exist but there will be much less demand for accountants as entry level positions are automated and mid-tier positions are held by people already in the industry.
not at all. As our economy grows and people need to do tax returns, there will be more demand.
Software developers & testers since machine learning trained bots can already write decent amount of code now. Imagine in 5 to 10 years…
I am not convinced by this. As a programmer, I want to be able to strictly control what my app does. I do not want drag and drop code blocks. I do not want inexplicable crashes from objects I have not coded myself. I do not want backdoors. Forget it. I barely trust things that let me drag and drop UI elements. Never mind "hey siri make me an app that does xyz"
They are automating a lot of management these days. Kind of weird people used to think of robots like personal slaves but now it’s the other way around
I'm not aware of any management automation. What does this refer to?
In 2123, they're going to laugh at this list the same way we're laughing at the 1923 future predictions list.
If I'm reading the vibe of this right... everything? We'll see. Every decade has its fears, jobs declining because of automation is just the newest.
Yup. Workers being made redundant has always been a thing...but just like jobs disappear new ones are created too.
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I think most of this is just hype. Working in IT, computers are way too stupid to be trusted with jobs that involve movement. I'd never trust a robot to maintain my garden, or clean my house. Roomba notwithstanding. There's more to it than just vacuuming the floor or mowing the lawn. And that's a low-level job.
And yet we are told to continue making babies... more unemployed humans, you mean?
They missed the most obvious.... Ethics professor. Have you watched the news lately and seen what kind of @ssholes are running this planet?
I don't know, there are still plenty of people interested in older things. My mom just got herself a new record player. People in her area still don't get good service for a lot of streams, digital services, cells, etc. Recently she ordered something online and the delivery driver ignored HER directions in favor of GoogleMaps. The driver got his truck stuck in a swamp and had to walk the rest of the way to the farm. Lots of people are pushing back against glitchy technology, in favor of human-to-human services. People still pay a premium for local/handmade goods/services. I'm not sure where we will be....
I swear the will one-day make a scanner that can diagnose anything and everything and an advancement from that you will just walk through something and get an injection to fix it kind of like Idiocracy
Automation is a serious issue. It should make life easier but it doesn’t and it will wreck the economy as more people will be without a job.
It's not perfect, but it is highly efficient and easier for most. People will need to be trained on a different set of skills, like those used to service the machines.
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Here's one - exchange student programs. With the ability to text, video call, audio call all the time students can't totally immerse themselves.
This list isn't about whether machines or computers will be able to do something better than a human can. It's about whether it will become more profitable to give these tasks to a computer or machine. At least, that's what the economic model that humanity has been following for thousands of years will lead to. And if our economic model doesn't change, the future will just lead to immense human suffering because not everyone can make money by making social media posts.
Shame politicians are not on the list. they know how to take but never how to give to the people...except debt, thanks to taxes
But as humans, are we really going to stop MAKING art and flying airplanes and using machinery? Stop fixing cars and correcting math? Let me know when the machines can give birth for me or grow my amputated limbs back. Otherwise I think people LIKE to do stuff and being around others doing stuff.
Another "profession" that might disappear is ordained ministers. I'm not referring to the ones who got their "degree" out of a cereal box either. I speaking of people who went to college and grad school and are trying to do the job properly.
I really hope once we can sue those damn AI programs that "make" ""art"" so that wont be a problem anymore
The future is going to be (and already is to a point) a cold, cold place if this happens (which it probably will). Next, there will be those at the top saying 'ordinary' peeps need to limit their procreation, or even push for mandatory contraception, as a severe lack of jobs put a strain on the current population. I'm glad I'm near retirement, ugh.
In 2123, they're going to laugh at this list the same way we're laughing at the 1923 future predictions list.
If I'm reading the vibe of this right... everything? We'll see. Every decade has its fears, jobs declining because of automation is just the newest.
Yup. Workers being made redundant has always been a thing...but just like jobs disappear new ones are created too.
Load More Replies... I think most of this is just hype. Working in IT, computers are way too stupid to be trusted with jobs that involve movement. I'd never trust a robot to maintain my garden, or clean my house. Roomba notwithstanding. There's more to it than just vacuuming the floor or mowing the lawn. And that's a low-level job.
And yet we are told to continue making babies... more unemployed humans, you mean?
They missed the most obvious.... Ethics professor. Have you watched the news lately and seen what kind of @ssholes are running this planet?
I don't know, there are still plenty of people interested in older things. My mom just got herself a new record player. People in her area still don't get good service for a lot of streams, digital services, cells, etc. Recently she ordered something online and the delivery driver ignored HER directions in favor of GoogleMaps. The driver got his truck stuck in a swamp and had to walk the rest of the way to the farm. Lots of people are pushing back against glitchy technology, in favor of human-to-human services. People still pay a premium for local/handmade goods/services. I'm not sure where we will be....
I swear the will one-day make a scanner that can diagnose anything and everything and an advancement from that you will just walk through something and get an injection to fix it kind of like Idiocracy
Automation is a serious issue. It should make life easier but it doesn’t and it will wreck the economy as more people will be without a job.
It's not perfect, but it is highly efficient and easier for most. People will need to be trained on a different set of skills, like those used to service the machines.
Load More Replies... Here's one - exchange student programs. With the ability to text, video call, audio call all the time students can't totally immerse themselves.
This list isn't about whether machines or computers will be able to do something better than a human can. It's about whether it will become more profitable to give these tasks to a computer or machine. At least, that's what the economic model that humanity has been following for thousands of years will lead to. And if our economic model doesn't change, the future will just lead to immense human suffering because not everyone can make money by making social media posts.
Shame politicians are not on the list. they know how to take but never how to give to the people...except debt, thanks to taxes
But as humans, are we really going to stop MAKING art and flying airplanes and using machinery? Stop fixing cars and correcting math? Let me know when the machines can give birth for me or grow my amputated limbs back. Otherwise I think people LIKE to do stuff and being around others doing stuff.
Another "profession" that might disappear is ordained ministers. I'm not referring to the ones who got their "degree" out of a cereal box either. I speaking of people who went to college and grad school and are trying to do the job properly.
I really hope once we can sue those damn AI programs that "make" ""art"" so that wont be a problem anymore
The future is going to be (and already is to a point) a cold, cold place if this happens (which it probably will). Next, there will be those at the top saying 'ordinary' peeps need to limit their procreation, or even push for mandatory contraception, as a severe lack of jobs put a strain on the current population. I'm glad I'm near retirement, ugh.
