Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing traditional professions. Just yesterday, we reported that the demand for software engineers has dropped 71% in the last three years.
But according to Bill Gates , there are jobs that machines won’t be able to replace even in a hundred years. And he’s not referring to doctors or artists, but to programmers.
In a discussion on the future of technology, Gates acknowledged his shared concerns: the development of artificial intelligence is both exciting and terrifying. The World Economic Forum predicts that automation could eliminate approximately 85 million jobs by 2030 , but create up to 97 million new ones in sectors still under development.
The main challenge, according to Gates, is to ensure that the benefits go not only to tech-savvy individuals, but to society as a whole.
He placed particular emphasis on the programming profession . Machines can already write code and detect errors, but true programming goes far beyond a set of instructions. It involves finding unexpected solutions, creativity, and intuition—qualities that algorithms cannot fully replicate . Programmers often describe moments of inspiration , when the right solution suddenly emerges, without having to resort to instructions. It is this ” spark ” of human thought, Gates believes, that will preserve the value of the profession.
However, it’s not just the IT sector that requires this approach. Biotechnology, energy, and other complex industries also rely on human experience and judgment. Meanwhile, administrative tasks and some design tasks are already significantly shifting toward algorithms that can compose text or layout with a single click.
This won’t necessarily lead to mass layoffs, but it will signal that the future of work lies not in resisting AI, but in embracing it.
Research confirms that professions that emphasize critical thinking, ethics, and emotional intelligence are best protected from automation. Artificial intelligence can accelerate data analysis or eliminate routine tasks, but strategic thinking and creativity remain human.
The fundamental conclusion is simple: we must consider artificial intelligence as a tool, not a competitor.
Those who learn, adapt, and leverage new technologies to improve their ideas will emerge victorious. And as Gates emphasized, some things— true ingenuity and the ability to solve complex problems—can’t be codified. Not today, nor in a hundred years.
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