The Other AI Jobs

Across the Bay Area, the fastest growing job listings are in operations engineering, applied science, senior machine learning, principal cloud architecture, forward-deployed roles, and more, according to Laura Ullrich, the director of economic research in North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab. "A year ago, people were very concerned about these types of jobs not coming to fruition," she noted.

"Today, it's all AI. It's all AI jobs." Of course, demand for estheticians, Pilates instructors, massage therapists, therapist therapists, and interior designers is also skyrocketing. It's no surprise that the ultra-wealthy at companies like Anthropic would seek specialized help for their personal lives, just as those working 72-hour weeks at Nvidia wouldn't have time to shop for lamps for their own homes.

As wealth increases, so too do the demand for luxury services. History shows that technological change, including AI, leads to job creation as well as destruction. General-purpose technologies, like the internet and printing press, have both eliminated and generated new roles. ChatGPT and Claude Code, for instance, have replaced jobs for interpreters and call-center employees, while simultaneously creating jobs for electricians building data centers and machine-learning experts crafting algorithms.

These first-order effects are obvious and direct. However, AI also fosters second-order roles, which are often difficult to anticipate. For example, the emergence of the combustion engine in the late 1800s led to the creation of aircraft and the need for pilots, cabin stewards, and air traffic controllers. Similarly, AI experts are predicting the appearance of new roles such as robot trainers, deepfake investigators, AI-risk underwriters, and AI-powered perfumers.

These "wealth jobs" are harder to foresee but are nonetheless important. They involve services that are personalized, in-person, and face-to-face, which AI and robots cannot replicate. Wealth jobs will primarily be in sectors like wellness, with an increasing demand for services such as cold-plunge installers, sauna technicians, and massage therapists.

Additionally, there will be a growing need for house managers to handle tasks like laundry, shopping, and car registration. As incomes rise, consumers will allocate more money towards labor-intensive expenses such as higher education, healthcare, dining out, and travel. Experts believe AI will drive demand for these personalized services, as people prefer unique experiences over standardized goods.

In summary, AI's impact on the labor market extends far beyond job creation and destruction. It also generates wealth, which in turn creates a demand for high-value, service-oriented jobs that were previously unimaginable.