By Contributor,Nisha Talagala,Robert Alexander

Copyright forbes

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – JANUARY 14, 2020: An employee works at her computer in a home and office furniture and accessory store in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)
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The CEO of Anthropic recently stated that AI could automate nearly half of today’s work tasks in the coming five years, raising fears of mass job losses. Another example is J.P. Morgan’s note on a potential “jobless recovery” and the impact of AI on white-collar jobs. Meanwhile, others have noted the impact of AI on early-career professionals, particularly in the software sector. While AI skills continue to be in demand, every step of AI model advancement renders public (and often free) AI models more and more capable of everyday tasks, creating a race for human skills to keep up and keep ahead. But the story isn’t just about displacement. Entirely new categories of work are emerging—the “Frontier Careers” of the AI era. Where will these new AI jobs be?

A “Frontier” Career

While AI is widely expected to impact nearly all industries, it is worth noting the emergence of what I would call “Frontier Careers”. These are industries and fields where AI is already showing signs of new business creation, whether it is through novel approaches to critical problems or as a result of problems created by AI itself. For new professionals or those considering a career change, these fields are likely to have long-term growth for those who invest in keeping up with AI technology.

A previous article outlined how AI is likely to impact companies, and the sequence of job losses and gains that can follow. The key observation is that the first visible application of AI is efficiency improvement, which is more likely to cost jobs than create them. The second wave, overall growth, which can create new jobs, will be industry and company-dependent. Some industries will see immediate opportunities for new projects with AI, with customer demand and, consequently, revenue. Others may find that regulatory, competitive, or other pressures limit return on investment from AI innovations, resulting in less job growth.

So, what are areas where AI can generate new value and revenue, requiring workforce expansion, without being excessively slowed or blocked by regulatory or other pressures? Growth in these areas may not be immediate, but it is likely to be sustainable once these industries get going.

Area 1: Materials Science

One possible such area is materials science. AI has shown tremendous potential for understanding and predicting chemical reactions, useful in a range of fields. Material science, where AI has already shown the potential to quickly discover new materials, from lighter alloys for aerospace to new battery ingredients. Unlike drug discovery, where AI in chemistry can also discover new materials, materials science does not have complex clinical trials, which can limit the speed of progression from discovery to revenue. There is even a return effect, where new materials can accelerate AI development by enabling more powerful computer systems.

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Area 2: Cybersecurity

While the former is strictly about AI being able to create innovation in areas that could benefit, this one is also about AI solving problems created by AI. While cybersecurity is not an AI-generated problem, new AI innovations (such as voice cloning) can easily be leveraged to hack systems and break security protocols. While AI-generated content is ripe for use in misinformation strategies, that is not what I am referring to. Rather, my focus is the access to secure systems by intelligent automation and the many risks that can follow such a breach. Agentic AI, where software is capable of not just generating content but responding to inputs and developing strategies, is particularly likely to be adopted, both as an adversary and as a protector. As AI expands, use of AI to combat cybersecurity threats, including those caused by AI, will be an emerging field. Demand will be high because corporate and national interests will be directly threatened, translating directly into hiring and expansion.

Area 3: Healthcare

While AI has been shown to dramatically impact the proposals of new molecules and new drugs, AI use in healthcare is far broader. Healthcare in general has strong regulatory pressures, so even AI-generated drugs have to take their place in the (long) approvals and clinical trials pipeline. However, other areas, such as nutrition improvement and sleep improvement, present opportunities for near-term return on investment for AI initiatives in health. Other powerful use cases exist in longevity research and preventative care. Finally, as more humans use AI for daily tasks and studies continue to emerge on the impact on human critical thinking abilities, one can expect a rise in “brain-gym” types of programs, focused on helping humans develop and retain their mental capacities.

Takeaways: What You Should Do

Many professionals are being impacted by AI in their workplace. Adaptation is unfortunately required. Some suggestions on how to assess the situation and adapt:

If you are in one of these frontier fields, the goal should be to become as knowledgeable about AI as possible for your field and develop a frontier career.

If you are not in one of these fields, do not panic. These are likely not the only frontier fields. Focus on understanding how AI is likely to be adopted in your industry, and map your path accordingly.

If you are a new professional or entering college, it may be worthwhile to consider emerging areas in addition to well-worn career paths, which are likely to change dramatically before you graduate. While you are in college, stay aware of the world outside.

If you’re a business leader or investor, explore how these frontier careers intersect with your industry, or whether such frontier opportunities exist in your domain. Early partnerships or strategic bets could define your competitive edge.

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