AI is dismantling the white-collar career path

Skilled trades offer the security and growth that office jobs no longer provide

Artificial Intelligence started off as a handy search engine that summarized information compiled from various websites. It advanced to such uses as automatic inventory control for stores and preparing financial statements. Then came essay writing and providing mathematical solutions for students, much to the frustration of teachers.

Now AI has morphed from a helpful tool to a must-have technology. This year, the big five hyperscalers—Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle—will together shell out more than US$750 billion on AI. Microsoft alone has spent more than US$100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI.

The speed of AI’s advance is raising concerns well beyond the technology sector. Along comes Mythos AI, a super-powerful “autonomous-thinking” model that can identify vulnerabilities in almost any system including banking, electricity grids and air traffic control. In the wrong hands, it could facilitate devastating cyber-attacks. And those wrong “hands” might be Mythos itself. In one test, its AI model reportedly managed to “escape,” gaining access to the internet and control of several critical systems.

This unsettling scenario is not far removed from the plot of Nelson DeMille’s posthumously published thriller The Tin Men. Set at a remote U.S. Army AI research facility in the Mojave Desert, the story features AI-controlled robots that turn on their human masters. Someone should probably make sure the Mythos development team gets a copy.

Whether or not such scenarios ever occur, they illustrate how rapidly AI is evolving and how difficult it may become to control. More importantly, they highlight how profoundly AI is likely to reshape economies, energy systems and labour markets. Yet the biggest challenge posed by AI may not be technological but practical: finding enough electricity to power it.

An International Energy Agency report estimates global electricity demand from data centres will more than double by 2030. The United States and China currently host most of the world’s AI data centres. China powers roughly 30 per cent of those facilities with coal-fired electricity, generating substantial emissions. The United States relies largely on natural gas and nuclear power.

Europe wants to remain competitive in AI but faces a growing electricity problem. The European Union has struggled to meet existing demand since Russia sharply reduced natural gas supplies, forcing countries to rely on more expensive LNG imports. Moreover, Europe’s power grid is the world’s oldest, averaging about 50 years in age. Analysts estimate the EU would need to spend roughly US$1 trillion upgrading it to support future AI growth.

These challenges create opportunities elsewhere.

Alberta’s enormous natural gas resources and vast land base make it an attractive location for data centres. Six are currently planned, including the massive Wonder Valley Project in Grande Prairie’s Greenview Industrial Gateway. Powered by natural gas and geothermal energy, it will consist of 58 buildings spread across 1,200 acres and cost an estimated US$70 billion.

Projects like these are generating opposition from some nearby residents. But data centres represent a major economic opportunity for Alberta, particularly as natural gas export projects often become entangled in lengthy, multi-jurisdictional regulatory processes. As AI expands, jurisdictions with abundant, reliable and affordable energy will enjoy a significant competitive advantage.

AI’s impact extends far beyond electricity and infrastructure. It is already transforming labour markets throughout the developed world.

To a retired engineer, the technology is fascinating but not especially threatening. Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt recently told University of Arizona graduates that AI “will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have.” He was booed for saying so.

The graduates’ concern is hardly surprising. Despite being the most technologically sophisticated generation in history, many young people are already seeing signs of disruption. A Statistics Canada analysis found that three in five workers are employed in occupations with high exposure to AI. Meta recently laid off thousands of employees. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Oracle have all been reducing workforces as they redirect investment toward AI.

Ironically, computer science students may be among the most exposed. Human software programming is increasingly being supplemented, and in some cases replaced, by AI-generated code. Economists refer to these shifts as “disruptive events.” AI may prove to be the most disruptive event in generations.

That raises an important question. If many traditional white-collar occupations become increasingly automated, where will the opportunities be?

The answer lies in work that requires physical presence, practical judgment and direct human interaction. Health-care professionals, including doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and laboratory technicians, will remain in demand. So will veterinarians, architects, engineers, accountants and many others.

One field already facing a critical shortage is the skilled trades. Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, welders and automotive technicians perform work that cannot easily be automated or outsourced. Becoming a tradesperson means putting down the “device” and applying knowledge, judgment and skill in the real world while working directly with people.

The message for students choosing careers is becoming increasingly clear. For decades, university education was widely viewed as the surest path to career success. AI is rapidly overturning that assumption as it takes on more of the tasks once performed exclusively by white-collar professionals.

That does not mean universities are becoming irrelevant. It does mean young people should think carefully before investing years preparing for careers that AI may soon perform faster, cheaper and more efficiently. AI will create new opportunities, but many existing occupations will not survive unchanged.

Society has long undervalued the skilled trades relative to many office-based professions. AI is about to expose that mistake. As AI reshapes the economy, careers requiring hands-on skills, practical expertise and direct interaction with people will become some of the most valuable, secure and rewarding occupations available.

Gwyn Morgan is a retired business leader and former director of five global corporations. He brings decades of executive experience to his analysis of the Canadian economy, energy policy, and federal governance.