There are professions that will be transformed, others that will be reduced, some that will mutate towards more humane and less repetitive tasks. But there is one that not only seems threatened by artificial intelligence; which has an expiration date.
Not because there is a lack of workers, nor because demand has fallen. It will be for something simpler and more uncomfortable, and it is because a chatbot will be able to do it better, faster and without the need for rest. That job is that of a teleoperator.
For decades, millions of employees have handled complaints, resolved technical incidents, and answered questions by phone or chat. A job that requires patience, perseverance and tolerance to stress.
However, none of that will be relevant in ten years, when that patience can be simulated with an intelligent algorithm. But why will the teleoperator be the first practically impossible job for a human within a decade?
AI turns the teleoperator into a role condemned to irrelevance
If we look at the current technology landscape, the pattern is quite clear. The AI no longer responds only to what you ask, but now listens to you, detects your emotions, adjusts the tone, modulates calm or speeds up the pace when it notices impatience.
You don’t make mistakes because you’re tired, you don’t get frustrated by receiving a hundred complaints in a row, and much less do you need breaks, vacations, salaries or continuous training. She learns everything on her own, and at a speed unattainable for any human employee.
Los call centers have begun to change, some banks already refer basic queries to conversational assistants. Airlines automate claims and many online stores allow returns, payments or incidents to be resolved without human interaction.
If today you still hear a person on the other end of the line, in ten years it will likely be that that voice no longer exists, or that you will not be able to distinguish it from a synthetic one.
According to artificial intelligence, a teleoperator can answer twenty calls per hour, perhaps forty if the pressure is extreme. Likewise, you can manage thousands of simultaneous conversations without losing track or making mistakes.
It is not that humans are bad at this job, but that the comparison leaves them without the opportunity to compete. When a customer calls, they will describe the problem and AI can identify it in seconds using voice and behavioral analysis.
If he detects frustration, he will soften his tone, but if he perceives haste, he will get to the point, and all without waiting. It is for this reason that for a company, this model is perfect because it would save thousands of euros, but for a worker, it would be a sentence.
According to ChatGPT, the displacement will be progressive, but definitive. Mass layoffs will not be necessary; Humans simply will not be hired for a job that software will do with ten thousand times greater efficiency.
Next on the list: repetitive jobs
The teleoperator will be the first, but not the last. And then content writers could fall, those who write texts in digital journalism, where an AI could generate hundreds of drafts in seconds.
Also the administrative ones who manage forms or databases, because an algorithm already processes documents without spelling errors, without mistakes and without hours of sleep. Even translation will be displaced by engines capable of subtitling videos or interpreting conversations in real time.
None of these professions will disappear suddenly, but their risk is evident. What unites them all is repetition, because if the work does not require creativity, judgment or complex decision making, a machine will end up doing it better.
It should be noted that this does not mean that artificial intelligence is going to wipe human employment off the face of the Earth, it means that will divide the work between the mechanical and the irreplaceable.
By 2030, AI will eliminate jobs with repetitive tasks
The transformation is already underway, and there is conversational software that responds more politely than any telemarketer. Given this, it is expected that AI will not destroy human employment, but only repetitive tasks.
And while other sectors may adapt, reinvent themselves or evolve, the teleoperator has it more difficult. Because its essence—large-scale repetitive interaction—will be absorbed by a system that will work non-stop, and without pay.