The Real Impact on Skills and Low-Satisfaction Jobs
This is The AI Advent Series, a five-week run of practical reflections on how AI is actually being used day to day. Each piece looks at one theme that keeps coming up in my work, in our bootcamps, and in real conversations with people trying to make sense of this technology.
Introduction
One theme that keeps coming up whenever people discuss AI and work is the idea of “disappearing skills”. You’ll hear people say copywriting is dead, translation is dead, admin roles are dead, and so on. It’s all very dramatic, though it doesn’t reflect what’s actually happening.
During my interview, I mentioned something that genuinely surprised the interviewer. She’d spoken to a range of people already, yet she hadn’t heard anyone talk about the positive impact AI could have on low-satisfaction jobs. It’s a perspective that’s strangely missing from most conversations, even though it’s one of the most important parts of this whole topic.
The conversation made me realise how skewed the public narrative has become. People talk about roles being replaced, though very few stop to think about the quality of the work being replaced, or what new opportunities emerge when some of the most repetitive, mentally draining tasks finally move out of human hands.
So let’s look at the actual impact AI is having, and the impact it could have if we approach this sensibly.
Skills Have Always Shifted With Technology
The first thing I said in the interview was something I’ve believed for years: Skills evolving isn’t new. Technology has been changing human work since the start of civilisation.
A few generations ago, the average person would have known how to farm their own land. Before machinery, that was everyday life. When tractors arrived, that skill didn’t vanish in a crisis. It evolved. People learned different skills, developed new professions, and the economy shifted around it. The idea of a 9–5 job is actually quite new when you zoom out and look at the full timeline of humanity.
We are simply in the next iteration of that same cycle.
AI is doing what technological change has always done:
- Automating the repetitive
- Speeding up the slow
- Making labour-intensive tasks easier
- Shifting the value towards human judgement and creativity
It’s easy to see this as threatening until you realise it’s a pattern we’ve lived through repeatedly.
Which Skills Will Change, and Why
There are certain types of work where AI will naturally take more responsibility:
- Translation (when not sensitive or contextual)
- Basic copywriting
- Routine technical documentation
- Repetitive admin
- Formulaic tasks with clearly defined steps
These tasks have always been the most vulnerable to automation. Not because they aren’t important, but because the processes behind them can be broken down cleanly.
Then you have the skills AI simply cannot handle:
- People management
- Plumbing
- Electrical work
- Cooking
- Creative craftsmanship
- Engineering judgement
- Interpersonal conflict resolution
- Ethical decision-making
- And plenty more
AI can’t wire a house. It can’t smell when food is burning. It can’t repair a burst pipe. It can’t walk into a messy situation and understand the subtle emotional dynamics at play. The idea that all work will be automated is more science fiction than reality.
The Part People Overlook: Low-Satisfaction Jobs
Here’s the perspective the interviewer hadn’t heard before, and it’s one I think is fundamental to the whole conversation:
If AI removes low-satisfaction, purely transactional jobs, that isn’t a loss — it’s an opportunity.
There are millions of people doing work they do not enjoy:
- Clocking in
- Completing repetitive tasks
- Clocking out
- Feeling no sense of purpose
- Waiting for payday
These roles still matter, but they don’t offer fulfilment. They’re often structured around repeatable, low-autonomy tasks — exactly the kinds of tasks AI handles well.
If those roles change or disappear, that doesn’t automatically mean people are cast aside. Historically, when basic labour is automated, new roles appear that require more creativity, more human judgement, and more interaction.
Automation doesn’t shrink the job market. It shifts where the jobs sit.
A Practical Example: The “Slacker vs High Achiever” Dynamic
I made a point during the interview that always gets a reaction. A lot of people worry that AI will “water down” skill levels because everyone can suddenly produce work faster.
Here’s the thing:
- People who cut corners will still cut corners.
- AI will simply let them cut slightly better corners.
- They’ll still be spotted for the same reasons they always were — lack of depth, lack of care, lack of judgement.
But high achievers — people who think critically, who reflect, who refine — will get even better. They will scale their skills further, deliver more value, and have the time to add the nuance that sets good work apart from average work.
If anything, AI will widen that gap, not close it.
What About Critical Thinking?
One question that always surfaces when people talk about AI and work is whether critical thinking will decline. It’s a fair concern, though it misunderstands how people actually use AI in the real world.
As I often explain, you can spot the people who look for shortcuts a mile off. They’ll get a draft from AI, accept it as-is, and move on. But that isn’t critical thinking disappearing — that’s the same behaviour they would have shown without AI. It’s just sped up.
The real story is what happens for the people who already think deeply about their work.
AI becomes a sparring partner. It challenges assumptions. It asks questions. It forces clarity. It doesn’t let you hide behind vague thinking.
For high achievers, critical thinking doesn’t weaken. It gets sharper. They use AI to:
- Stress-test an idea
- Explore alternatives
- Clarify their reasoning
- Check blind spots
- Strengthen the narrative behind their decisions
When these people combine their judgement with AI’s ability to surface patterns or summarise information quickly, the end result is better than either could produce alone.
So yes, AI raises the floor for the people who tend to cut corners — but it raises the ceiling for the people who think critically. And, crucially, it does not remove the need for judgement. That final decision still belongs to the human, precisely because responsibility cannot be automated.
If AI Handles the Drudgery, People Get to Do Work That Feels Like Work
This is the part I’m most optimistic about.
Imagine a world where:
- Repetitive filing is automated
- Endless form filling is automated
- Data cleaning is automated
- Routine translation is automated
- Low-autonomy admin is automated
What’s left are the tasks that make people feel human:
- Creativity
- Connection
- Decision-making
- Problem solving
- Craft
- Care
- Expertise
- Pride in the outcome
This isn’t wishful thinking. We’ve seen it already with our learners. When repetitive tasks disappear, they don’t lose work — they gain better work.
The Skills We’ll Need Next
As AI takes away the most repetitive tasks, the skills that rise in value are:
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Creative problem solving
- Ethical judgement
- Technical literacy
- Human-centred design
These are not abstract ideas. These are the skills people rely on every day in meaningful roles.
The shift isn’t “everyone becomes a programmer”. The shift is “everyone becomes more human”.
Conclusion
Jobs evolve. Skills evolve. They always have. The arrival of AI doesn’t suddenly change the rules, it just speeds up a transition we were already heading towards.
The real impact won’t be mass unemployment. It will be:
- Fewer low-satisfaction roles
- More meaningful work
- A broader skill set across society
- A workforce that grows together rather than fragments
The interviewer told me she hadn’t heard that perspective before, and I’m not surprised. We’ve let the narrative drift towards doom when the reality is far more balanced and, in many ways, hopeful.
AI won’t erase human value. It will make human value matter more, more than ever!