The hidden cost of letting AI do the ‘boring’ jobs

Written by Anna Tvrz, Associate Content Director

Earlier this year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned of a coming white-collar bloodbath with half of entry-level jobs at risk as AI takes on the repetitive, “boring” work that usually sits at the bottom rung.

This week, Reed.co.uk CEO James Reed added fuel to that fire. Graduate vacancies, he revealed, have plunged from 180,000 to just 55,000 in three years, with 15% of companies already using AI to replace new hires. “If we’re seeing jobs reshaped, displaced and eliminated,” he said, “that’s going to have huge social, economic and political consequences.”

What this means for our future workforce

For young people entering work, it’s hardly encouraging. The reward for those who survived the chaos of Covid schooling with qualifications intact may be a shrinking job market, one where experience is no longer earned, but automated.

But here’s the question we should be asking: if AI takes over the ‘boring’ jobs, what are we losing?

The benefits of boredom

In one of my early jobs as a press agency reporter, it was my role each morning to listen to hours of emergency service tapes, scanning for anything newsworthy. It was a dry task that on the one hand taught me just how many bin fires there are. (A lot.)

On the other hand, it taught me something vital: judgement. I learned what caught an editor’s eye, and just as importantly, how it felt to miss something. That tedious task trained me to think like a journalist. A skill I still use today.

So, if we hand that learning over to AI, what happens when we later need people to step into higher roles? Will they have missed a crucial skills leap? Or, more concerningly, will we have handed the keys to curation to our new, artificial workforce? Teaching them the skills we need to pass on to the next generation, so they can take them forward and do great new things.

Reframing the boring

Maybe we need to stop calling these jobs boring. They’re often repetitive, yes — but also detail-driven, foundational and full of hidden lessons.

Those entry-level tasks are where people learn to think critically, communicate clearly and make decisions. They’re where future leaders are built.

Show early career jobs some love

Really, what we’re handing over to AI along with early career jobs is much more than a few admins tasks. It’s actually a huge privilege. The privilege to learn on the job, to make mistakes and to grow.

Sure, it can be tedious, and we shouldn’t underestimate the value and workload that junior staff bring to any organisation. But that was always part of the bargain.

Done well, early career roles are an exchange: of graft, enthusiasm and new ideas with knowledge, opportunities and growth.

That’s why employers need to work even harder to sell that opportunity to young people – ensuring that there’s a diverse, bright and hungry pipeline who are up for the challenge that the leadership roles of the future will surely present.