Some business owners think AI is ready to perform work tasks, but it’s not yet reliable enough to make the switch

Anyone firing employees because they thought that AI would do their jobs in 2025 should be fired. It really doesn’t take much research to see AI isn’t at the place where it’s replacing people – yet. And business managers – particularly in small and mid-sized companies – who think it is better think again.

At best, generative AI platforms are providing a more enhanced version of search, so that instead of sifting through dozens of websites, lists and articles to figure out how to choose a great hotel in Costa Rica, fix a broken microwave oven or translate a phrase from Mandarin to English, we simply ask our chatbot a question and it provides the best answer it finds. These platforms are getting better and more accurate and are indeed useful tools for many of us.

But these chatbots are nowhere near replacing our employees.

It’s somewhat akin to claiming that now that we have hammers, carpenters aren’t needed.

  • jarfil@beehaw.org
    1·
    15 hours ago

    A lot of people have been working tedious and repetitive “filler” jobs.

    • Computers replaced a lot of typists, drafters, copyists, calculators, filers, clerks, etc.
    • LLMs are replacing receptionists, secretaries, call center workers, translators, slop “artists”, etc.
    • AI Agents are in the process of replacing aides, intermediate administrative personnel, interns, assistants, analysts, spammers salespeople, basic customer support, HR personnel, etc.

    In the near future, AI-controlled robots are going to start replacing low skilled labor, then intermediate skilled ones.

    “AI” has the meaning of machines replacing what used to require humans to perform. It’s a moving goalpost: once one is achieved, we call it an “algorithm” and move to the next one, and again, and again.

    Right now, LLMs are at the core of most AI, but AI has already moved past that, to “AI Agents”, which is a fancy way of saying “a loop of an LLM and some other tools”. There are already talks of moving past that too, the next goalpost.