AI Both Replaces and Creates Jobs – The Net Balance Is Positive

Artificial intelligence (AI) will take jobs from us, replacing one profession or another – this is a statement we increasingly hear when discussing AI’s impact on the labor market. Recently, Microsoft even published a list of 40 professions most likely to be replaced by AI in the coming years, highlighting that those working with texts, communication, and information processing are particularly at risk. However, it is important to understand that AI will also create new jobs, and according to expert estimates, the overall balance will be positive.

7% More Jobs

The World Economic Forum’s Future Jobs Report 2025 emphasizes AI’s impact on employment in the coming five years. It forecasts that by 2030, digitalization – including AI – will create 170 million new jobs, while 92 million will disappear. That means a net increase of 78 million jobs, or about 7%. Most positions (around 938 million) will remain unchanged, meaning that despite technological and other shifts, the majority of people will continue working in their current fields.

Job Ads Already Seek Prompt Engineers

Of course, the professions where AI will drive demand and those where it will reduce it are very different. According to the same report, the demand for AI and machine learning specialists will grow significantly. Already today, job postings are looking for prompt engineers – a role that hardly anyone had heard of ten years ago, let alone searched for. There will also be a growing need for big data analysts, software developers, data scientists, UX and UI designers, cybersecurity managers, and specialists in electric and autonomous vehicles.

At the same time, demand is expected to decrease in professions such as data entry clerks, accountants and auditing assistants, cashiers, secretaries and bank employees, graphic designers, paralegals, customer service agents, and print industry workers.

We Say “Artificial Intelligence,” We Often Mean “Machine Learning”

If the net effect is positive, why do we fear AI’s impact on the job market so much? While artificial intelligence has undoubtedly become one of today’s biggest buzzwords, in reality, most people know very little about it, which fuels fear and prejudice. When we speak of AI today, we often mean machine learning – systems that learn from data and improve over time – or deep learning, which uses neural networks with many layers to handle tasks such as speech, image, or text recognition.

Artificial general intelligence, on the other hand, remains theoretical – a form of AI that could think and solve problems as broadly and flexibly as humans. Experts disagree on when (or whether) this will happen: some suggest 2029, others 2060, while others doubt it will ever emerge.

From Accountant to Data Analyst

What can we do now to stay competitive as the labor market evolves? One option is to develop skills that AI struggles to replace – such as sensory and perceptual abilities, empathy and active listening, manual dexterity, endurance and precision, creative thinking, teaching and mentoring, leadership and social influence, and emotional intelligence. Another is retraining into adjacent professions where similar skills are in demand.

For example, attention to detail, analytical thinking, data interpretation, and responsibility are crucial for both accountants and data analysts. The first profession is projected to decline, while the second is expected to grow. AI will not replace uniquely human skills or natural intelligence – instead, it should be seen as a tool to expand our opportunities and learn new things. At the same time, we must remember that any AI-generated answer or content should never be taken as absolute truth but evaluated critically.

From Industrialization to the AI Era

The world has already lived through industrialization, which reshaped industries such as textiles, metals, machinery, coal, transport, chemicals, and agriculture. Steam, internal combustion, and electric engines replaced horses – though they never disappeared entirely. Later, the internet also transformed society, sparking fears at first, yet today it is an integral part of our daily lives, bringing numerous benefits.

Artificial intelligence should be seen as the next step. It will inevitably change many professions but also create new opportunities, expand human potential, and serve as an instrument that complements – rather than replaces – our natural intelligence. The greatest challenge for each of us is adaptability: developing those unique skills that AI cannot replicate.