Six Useful Degrees For Jobs That AI Cannot Replace Yet

Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that many jobs are becoming obsolete. This can be a scary prospect for students trying to decide on a degree program. After all, nobody wants to spend a lot of time and money on their studies only to find that their skills are not needed in the job market. While nothing is guaranteed, a few career paths will always be in demand. Here are a few options that are considered safe bets when choosing what to study.

Healthcare

There's no doubt that artificial intelligence and automation are gaining popularity in the healthcare field. However, they are best suited for tasks such as data entry, record keeping, medication dispensing, and tracking patients' vital signs. Other tasks, such as building a rapport with patience and providing emotional support, are less likely to be replaced. This means that healthcare degrees for careers that involve caring for individuals, families, and communities will always remain valuable. There are plenty of career options in the healthcare industry that require social or emotional intelligence as well as a human connection that technology cannot yet provide.

Public Relations

Artificial intelligence is great for providing data about audience behavior, but public relations professionals are still needed for their insights. Human factors like creativity, empathy, and people management skills still play an essential role and are unlikely to be automated anytime soon. Cultural trends constantly shift, and public relations professionals are better than artificial intelligence at knowing how the public might respond to the day's news cycle. AI can certainly be used as a tool to make the jobs of public relations experts easier, but for now, at least, a human touch will always be needed.

Education

Technology has been gaining a lot of popularity in the education sector, but generally in the capacity that it assists educators instead of replacing them. Specific tasks, such as lesson planning, grading, and communication, can be handled more efficiently using technology. However, an essential part of education is still building relationships with students and providing emotional support to struggling students. Students have different emotional and developmental needs, and humans are much better at identifying and adapting to these needs than AI.

Law

There has been an increase in the use of AI tools in law, but this is mainly in the paralegal field. The legal field involves a tremendous amount of documents, but AI is unlikely to take over the roles of lawyers, judges, legal consultants, and other professionals. Aspects such as legal research and contract analysis can be automated. Still, legal professionals must also have creative problem-solving skills, persuasive communication skills, and ethical decision-making abilities. The legal industry involves handling a lot of confidential data, and there are numerous privacy and ethical issues related to using AI to handle this type of data. Human oversight will always be needed to ensure critical and nuanced items are handled correctly.

Psychiatry

In psychiatry, AI can assist in various ways but cannot fully replace a licensed psychiatrist. The ability to understand complex psychiatric conditions and provide empathy as well as compassion when dealing with patients is still out of the reach of AI. This profession also involves a lot of confidentiality, informed consent, and potential emergencies that are best handled by humans. Psychiatrists are able to take a  holistic view of their patient's health, which AI would struggle to interpret in the same nuanced way. In addition, patients who require psychiatric health have a need to feel like they are being understood and supported, which is difficult when dealing with AI.

Business

Business degrees have always been amongst the most popular and valuable fields of study, and even with the rise of AI, this trend will continue. This is especially true for leadership positions in the business field, as these depend on hands-on experience and people skills. The human touch will always be needed in the business world, and with the use of AI, those in leadership positions can focus more on managing people and less on the administrative side of things.

Conclusion

Although it is essential to be adequately prepared for the future, it is impossible to accurately predict what jobs will be in demand and which might fall by the wayside. For example, very few people could predict that artificial intelligence would significantly impact creative fields such as art and animation. When choosing what to study, selecting a field you will enjoy and find fulfillment in is still important. However, it can also be very beneficial to study subjects such as AI as its use will become prevalent in almost all fields, and understanding how to harness it to use your job can be invaluable. Education is also important, as many jobs with low education levels and performing routine tasks are more at risk of automation.