How Artificial Intelligence Is Slowly Making My Job Obsolete

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is definitely the hype word of 2023.  It rose to wide-spread recognition after the introduction of ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, to the world in November 2022 by the company OpenAI.  ChatGPT functions to provide detailed responses and articulate answers across many domains of knowledge, which was made possible using both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques.  Although there is still room for improvement for the quality of its response, ChatGPT is already widely used by many, especially for non-crucial planning like coming up with travel itineraries, and finding answers to simple enquiries.

So why do I say that it is going to make my job obsolete.  

I am a full time private tutor since 2011, specializing in the teaching of Chemistry in all levels, from O levels, A levels to IGCSE and IB.  I have always thought that working in the education field in Singapore is rather recession proof, as proven during the height of the pandemic in 2020.  With the announcement and implementation of the circuit breaker in 2020, many jobs were affected, but thankfully with the presence of technology, platforms like Skype, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams and Zoom enabled tutors like myself to continue to tutor the students with minimal disruptions.

However, I am feeling the strain recently, as it seems to be getting harder to find new students after current students graduate.  My fear is not unfounded as Chegg, an American education technology company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, announced its earnings recently with 7% decline in revenue, 62% decline in net income, and a shocking 183% decline in operating income!  The share price has fallen from USD 29.84 (coincidentally, this is the high reached on 30th November 2022 when ChatGPT is introduced to the world) to USD 9.08 on 2nd May 2023, representing a 69.6% decline!  The CEO and President of Chegg remarked the following:

"We believe that generative AI and large language models are going to affect society and business, both positively and negatively, at a faster pace than people are used to. Education is already being impacted...

In the first part of the year, we saw no noticeable impact from ChatGPT on our new account growth and we were meeting expectations on new sign-ups.  However, since March we saw a significant spike in student interest in ChatGPT.  We now believe it’s having an impact on our new customer growth rate.

... it’s too early to tell how this will play out, we believe that it’s prudent to be more cautious with our forward outlook. Therefore, we intend to provide only the next quarter’s guidance at this time"

If a listed company with many talents has already been negatively impacted by AI, probably, it is time for me to find alternative sources of income, to diversify ahead of time because I am unlikely to be spared from similar impact.  Another option is for me to try to digitalize my tutoring methodology, which may help to expand my student base, and letting more student know how I can help them, as demonstrated by a language learning center casted in one of the episode of Talking Point by Channel News Asia.  How this will turn out eventually is anyone's guess, because personally, I have yet to experiment things and evaluate how that will help to market my services.  Nonetheless, I just got to try and give it a shot, as never try, never know.  

In this article, the author also listed some of the jobs that are likely to be lost to AI.  It is an irony, that "white collar workers, whose job security was founded on their knowledge of complex processes and ability to integrate information from various sources" may be the first to be make redundant by the invention and progress of AI, while blue collar workers will remain very much in demand.

Will this event be the pivoting point for me to begin Barista FIRE earlier than expected?  I do not think so, as I do not feel that I am financially secured as yet.  I will definitely need to grind a couple more years before I can progress confidently to the next phase of my life.  For now, just got to continue to upgrade myself, continue to make myself relevant and do anything I can to secure a living, while boosting my portfolio via reinvesting dividends at the same time.  Barista FIRE, here I come...!