We are living through a time that represents the peak of technological advancement. Our ancestors may not have even imagined some of the things we have today.

For example, we can communicate instantly with anyone in any corner of the world. We have access to unprecedented information at all times; Our factories produce more stuff than they ever did; Medical science has eliminated almost all the major viruses and diseases of the 20th century. And we have human-made robots crawling on the surface of our planetary neighbour.

However, little did we know that human ingenuity and pursuit of innovation will also bar many of us from earning a living. The fear of automation is warranted, especially now more than ever.

The recent advancements in AI and machine learning pose a severe threat to eradicating millions of jobs worldwide. The bitter truth is that a capitalist economy is only concerned with profits, and human labour is exponentially more expensive than a robot.

So then, what does this mean for workers? Unfortunately, some jobs are more susceptible to being replaced by machines/AI than others.

Following is a list of 10 jobs that will disappear by 2050.

Taxi Drivers

If you think the arrival of ride-share apps like Uber was the end of the yellow cab, wait till cars go entirely autonomous. I am sure many of us have heard about Tesla’s autopilot mode and how surprisingly good it is in certain cities. Well, this self-driving technology is only in its initial stages, and as we speak, millions of dollars are being spent on R&D to improve it.

Moreover, it’s not only Tesla; many car manufacturers are going the self-driving route to capturing the “futuresque” electric car market.

It won’t be long before you can order a fully autonomous taxi on your smartphone. This move will happen sometime before 2050, as AI will make human drivers obsolete. As a result, millions will lose their jobs in the transportation industry.

Printing Press Operators

The print media has been on the decline for years now. Significant publications that once ruled the world of news and media now report the lowest numbers. This phenomenon is primarily due to the rise of the internet and the modern smartphone. Access to news and information is easier and faster than ever, so the newer generation has little incentive to read print media. The hundreds of audio podcasts also completely negate the need to read/watch to stay updated.

This shift will continue, and the decline in numbers will ultimately result in significant downsizing in the print media industry. As demand keeps dwindling, fewer newspapers/magazines will be printed, and factories will be closed. This will inevitably result in the loss of thousands of jobs worldwide.

Textile Worker

Anytime you have a job that relies on simple and repetitive activities, you will find automation making its way there. A classic example of this is the textile industry. Textile factories have to meet enormous demands and have to operate continuously. In the past, this meant 100s of workers and multiple shifts. However, due to automation, you’d be hard-pressed to find even a dozen workers in a textile mill.

Nowhere is this change more apparent than in Bangladesh, the world’s leading exporter of fabrics. Hence, by the year 2050, it is projected that textile factories will be nearly autonomous with further advancements in AI and robotics.

Postal worker

Letter correspondence was once the leading medium for long-distance communication. Even as recently as the early 2000s, mail was ubiquitous. People used to collect postal stamps, and tourists/travellers would send postcards back home.

However, as with many other things, the convenience and accessibility of the internet were too good to ignore. Since 2006, USPS alone has experienced a constant decline in mail volume. If the current trends are anything to go by, it is very likely that by the year 2050, the need for mail carriers will be almost over. And what little mail there still is, it will probably be delivered by autonomous vehicles or drones. Hence, human mail carriers will no longer be needed.

Fast Food Worker

Fast food restaurants are considered the leading employers of college students. The jobs are easy to learn, and you don’t need much experience or education. However, as with any other business, profits are the core concern, and human workers are expensive to hire and train. Fast food chains are well aware of their dependence on workers, and efforts to automate these jobs are underway.

Fast food is more about being cheap and quick rather than being a gourmet experience. The kitchen works almost like a production line at a car factory. The movements are simple and can be easily programmed into machines. If you think this is unlikely, 10 McDonald’s locations in Chicago are already using AI to take drive-through orders. It won’t be long before advanced AI and robots negate the cashiers and cooks.

Cashier

A cashier’s job is too menial and straightforward for it to rely on humans in the future. Even now, countless North American and European stores have self-checkout lines that let you scan and pay for items without needing a cashier. This trend will only grow across the world, and human cashiers will be lost memory. Additionally, grocery delivery apps are spreading their wings and soon enough, that might even become the norm. Hence, judging by how things are going, cashiers might become extinct by 2050.

Travel Agent

When was the last time you went to a travel agent’s office to book a flight? Then, it was normal to visit a travel agent to plan and book flights. Now, booking a flight ticket is as easy as pulling up an app on your phone, entering the date and time of your planned flight and voila! All the available flight appears just like that. There is no longer the need to talk to anyone.

However, there are still a few travel agents here and there. Perhaps old-fashioned folk still have the use for them. But, by the year 2050, you can be sure travel agents will be nowhere to be found.

Switchboard Operators

In a WWII-era movie, you might have seen a switchboard room where rows of operators pull and push phone plugs into a board. While this profession is primarily antiquated, around 100,000 switchboard operators are still employed in the U.S. alone.

As you can already tell, this line of work is not here to stay. It is one of the most rapidly declining jobs in the world as more sophisticated telecommunication networks are taking over. As a result, the need for operators to connect calls manually will not be necessary by the year 2050.

Customer Support

You have probably already experienced an early implementation of computer-based customer support. When you call your mobile service provider, your first contact line is a computer voice. It gives you options for the type of assistance you want, and you say it using your voice.

Mind you; you don’t press a key on your keypad anymore; instead, say the service you want. Once the computer knows the assistance you need, it connects you to an operator.

Now consider that most customer support representatives follow a prewritten script. This is especially true for troubleshooting assistance that relies on trial and error. An AI system could quickly assist you in troubleshooting something on your phone. By the year 2050, this could very well be a reality.

Warehouse Worker

Amazon already has robots working in its warehouse. These robots rack shelves and bring them to a stationary human worker, who picks up the items and puts them into bins. Now imagine the sort of advancement that will take place in computer vision and robotic manipulation in the next 28 years. It is not farfetched to wager that by 2050, warehouse workers will be replaced by AI-driven robots working completely autonomously.

Conclusion

Automation is an inevitable reality that will catch up sooner or later. Companies will always opt for cheaper operational costs, and nothing beats a robot that is programmed to only work. A computer or an AI system doesn’t ask for labour rights, doesn’t protest, and doesn’t need to get paid, let alone ask for a raise. The ten jobs listed in this article will likely go out of demand by 2050, owing to advancements in AI systems. Now would be an excellent time to plan and choose accordingly and aim for jobs that are immune to automation.