For decades, I had the luxury of having the most exciting job in the room.
asserted
I → have → room
As a travel writer, I’ve been on flying safaris around Kenya.
asserted
I → fly → Kenya
I trekked deep into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda to meet a family of mountain gorillas.
asserted
I → trek → gorillas
I swam with whale sharks off the coast of Okinawa and went stargazing in Peru’s Sacred Valley.
asserted
I → swim → Valley
As a freelancer, my income has always been a little unpredictable but I supplemented it with regular copywriting work for large companies, which paid well.
asserted
which → supplement → companies
The £45,000 I earned most years was plenty for me and my family to live comfortably.
asserted
me → earn → ?
But this wonderful lifestyle came to a crashing halt last year.
asserted
lifestyle → come → halt
In a devastating end to a 25-year writing career, I’ve officially been replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
asserted
I → replace → Intelligence
Company after company has told me my services are no longer required, informing me that AI programmes can now do my job.
asserted
programmes → tell → job
Unable to make ends meet, my credit card bills have spiralled and with a young family to look after, I’ve had no choice but to shift gears.
asserted
I → make → gears
I’ve found myself handing fliers out around my neighbourhood in a desperate bid to reinvent myself and offer out my services.
asserted
myself → find → services
I’m far from alone in facing this threat.
asserted
I → ’m → threat
Millions of jobs are at risk of being taken over by AI.
asserted
Millions → take → AI
Titans of the tech world leading the AI revolution have long warned of a looming jobs apocalypse.
asserted
Titans → lead → apocalypse
Dario Amodei, chief executive of AI start-up Anthropic claimed the software could wipe out half of entry level white-collar employment.
uncertain
software → claim → employment
After a 25-year writing career, Joe Minihane found the copywriting jobs he had relied on as a freelancer to supplement his income no longer existed as they were done by AI
An estimated eight million UK jobs could be threatened in the next three to five years in the worst-case scenario, according to forecasts from think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.
uncertain
jobs → find → Research
So far, the picture has been a lot less bleak than predicted.
asserted
picture → predict → ?
Some companies have even boasted that AI has led to job creation.
asserted
AI → boast → creation
Speaking at the Labour Party conference on Monday, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said there was no evidence so far of an overall reduction in jobs as a result of AI.
asserted
Narayan → speak → AI
While, on paper, the change isn’t happening as quickly as some AI leaders predicted it would, my own experience shows that the threat is still real.
asserted
threat → happen → paper
The jobs most at risk
Those of us who are impacted the most, it seems, are graduates going into a hugely competitive job market and older workers who do not have the skills required to meet the ever-growing demands of employers.
asserted
who → impact → employers
The jobs with the highest odds of being replaced are telephone operators and office administration or support roles, with a risk level of 83 per cent, according to experts at Kickresume.
uncertain
jobs → replace → Kickresume
Analysis by Microsoft of 200,000 conversations with a chatbot found that AI could complete at least 90 per cent of the work carried out by historians and coders, 80 per cent of salespeople and journalists, and 75 per cent of DJs and data scientists.
uncertain
AI → find → DJs
Other jobs that were particularly exposed were customer service assistants, financial advisers and product promoters.
asserted
that → expose → ?
For me, the shift started gradually, with work slowly drying up.
asserted
work → start → me
Yet by late 2024, it was clear that something seismic was happening.
asserted
something → happen → 2024
A large website for which I wrote consumer guides suddenly stopped offering me work.
asserted
I → write → work
Like many freelance writers, I preferred having a regular paying gig that could be topped up through other, more exciting jobs.
uncertain
that → prefer → jobs
With my steady income drying up, I no longer had the time or means to take on the more adventurous work either.
asserted
I → dry → work
It was only when I received a sheepish email from an editor that it finally hit home just how serious the situation was.
asserted
situation → receive → home
He told me his company would be using AI to produce its writing.
asserted
company → tell → writing
My regular £2,000 a month income dried up overnight.
asserted
income → dry → ?
Until last year, I had never wanted for work.
asserted
I → want → work
As I was self-employed, when the hammer did fall, I wasn’t entitled to any sort of pay-off or given the chance to give feedback to HR via an exit interview.
asserted
I → employ → interview
Officially, I followed the guidance of one of my early mentors, thanking senior staff for the work and expressing my hope that we would work together again soon.
asserted
we → follow → hope
Unofficially, I spoke with my editor over WhatsApp about how furious I was, telling him they were making a terrible mistake.
asserted
they → speak → mistake
Like me, he too soon found himself out of work.
asserted
he → find → work
Analysis by Microsoft found that AI could complete at least 90 per cent of the work carried out by historians and coders and 80 per cent of salespeople and journalists
For three months, I scrabbled around desperately looking for a new, regular gig to replace it.
uncertain
I → find → it
When it came, it involved editing copy written by an AI programme for a travel brand.
asserted
it → come → brand
Naturally, I felt somewhat uncomfortable when the opportunity for regular work presented itself turned out to be editing AI-written travel pieces.
asserted
opportunity → feel → pieces
…and 47 more, not listed.
The Aporia
