The Most AI-Proof Job
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
RIP Designers. RIP Programmers. RIP Copywriters. RIP doctors.
I’ve seen posts predicting the death of every profession on this platform at the hands of AI. Obviously, none of them are dead yet.
A more interesting question to ask is which profession is the most AI-proof?
Sports.
If people gain more leisure time due to automation, they’ll spend it on consumption. Sports, and, in turn, professional players will be a massive beneficiary of this.
Movies and TV shows won’t depend entirely on movie stars because the focus there is on the narrative. A good enough narrative can make actual human actors redundant.
That is not the case with sports. People will always tune in to watch a Ronaldo-Messi battle.
The raw emotion of watching players compete is irreplaceable.
But what if we create robots that are better at football than Messi?
Wouldn’t matter at all.
We developed chess algorithms that could beat the best players in the world decades ago. But no one wants to watch two algorithms compete, even if they’re more skilled than humans.
It comes down to a simple question — why do we watch sports?
It’s not just for the appreciation of the skill.
Often, we root for a player with a lower skill level but someone who can make us feel something. Someone who can make us feel like we’re competing instead of them.
We don’t have empathy for a robot. (at least not yet) That’s what positions sports players perfectly for the next few decades.
This doesn’t mean that AI won’t affect most aspects of sports. They most certainly will. From nutrition to training to recovery.
But the players themselves will be completely AI-proof. In fact, they will benefit greatly from it. They’ll experience longer-lasting success, improved skills, a broader audience, and increased earnings.
A lot more money.
The audience will become a greater leverage. Players will have gigantic audiences because we have a raw connection with them.
A connection that can’t be replicated by AI. At least, not till we get AGI.
Who knows what happens after that?
Fruit
