'Trains basically drive themselves now': 22 Jobs on a Fast-Track to Extinction in the Next 10 Years

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 1, 2025 10:00 AM EST

The Internet has made a lot of jobs obsolete. It seemed in the 90s that the entire focus of the workforce shifted, attempting to DotCommify every facet of our lives. While we can't do everything online, by now we've done a pretty good job of migrating almost every facet of our human world onto computers. How quickly things can change!

But that's been the history of humanity since forever, pivoting and adopting new technology that renders it's predecessors obsolete. Like Marty McFly, we wonder if we could have gone back in time to take bets on the outcomes of the future, wagering which industries would flourish and which would flop. But 10 years from now, can we predict what jobs will (and won't) still be around? Redditors have certainly tried to speculate...

Train conductors, courtroom typists, and grocery store clerks are rapidly going extinct. Replaced by the likes of robots and technological advancement, now we don't need a real human doing these tasks. Not to say that every job is at risk, we just have to, like the humans before us always have, pivot.

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  • Perhaps, in 2025, it's a good time to be a robot. Alas, many of us probably wish we had the computing power of the Internet at our fingertips, but we're juuuust not quite ready to put a chip in our brains yet. Time will tell where we end up as a human society, but all I can say is, I'm simply along for the ride! Let's see where we're headed. All aboard the unmanned train!

  • Cheezburger Image 10471508480
    via Brazil2
  • Which profession is going to get wiped out in the next 5-10 years?
    via Toomad316
  • tocsin1990 12 years ago, I got a job as a computer operator (basically, spending all day entering commands into a green screen from a checklist), and I thought back then that the job would be automated by Al within years. Today, I'm still in the industry (promoted now, though) and I know there's a guy in my company doing exactly the job I did years ago.
    via tocsin1990
  • Moral of the story, there's a lot of jobs out there that could be replaced by Al, but most companies aren't willing to put in that investment, unless it becomes super, super cheap to do so.
    via tocsin1990
  • Palebisi I used to do court transciption (not stenography). Basically I download an audio file and type what's spoken in the courtroom verbatim (within style rules). The industry has been trying to implement speech to text software for years but it's been too cr p up until very recently. I've since upskilled to an "editor" where instead of typing manually I correct the generated transcript.
    via Palebisi
  • It still struggles with speaker differentiation and formatting but it's improved so drastically within the last 3 years it's only a matter of time until traditional transcriptionists are no longer necessary.
    via Palebisi
  • Cheezburger Image 10471508224
    via dragonimages
  • Longjumping-Log1591 Typists and Milkmen
    via Longjumping-Log1591
  • Ok_Stop7366 By the looks of it, being a federal employee
    via Ok_Stop7366
  • Visual_Refuse_6547 · Paralegals. It's scary but the legal world is embracing Al. Everyone heard about those lawyers who used ChatGPT and it cited case law that didn't exist, but no one's talking about how LexisNexis developed their own Al that won't do that. If an Al can summarize case law, write a brief, generate court documents- what does the paralegal do?
    via Visual_Refuse_6547
  • The only saving grace is that there are plenty of old lawyers out there who don't even know how to e-file documents, so that may delay it a bit.
    via Visual_Refuse_6547
  • lv8_StAr Late to the party and this probably won't be seen but: In the USA, Locomotive Engineers on major freight railroads. Trains basically drive themselves now, all the Engineer really does is hit a de d-man switch, blow the horn, and ring the bell. A computer runs
    via lv8_StAr
  • the train and even tells the Engineer when to apply the air brakes, the big carriers are pushing for One- Man Crews, and General Electric and the railroad electronics companies are pushing for programs that can run the train from a de d start to a de d stop.
    via lv8_StAr
  • Locomotive Engineers aren't even technically called "Engineers" anymore, they're "Locomotive Operators." Especially with the recent political regime and new head of the FRA, this reality is coming ever faster.
    via lv8_StAr
  • eingram About 10 years ago there were similar questions being asked, and a common answer was truck driving. People thought that driverless trucking was going to happen soon. I put a significant chunk of my investment money into places working towards this tech.
    via eingram
  • Thankfully Volvo stock has done okay since then, but most others I've long since bailed on. It feels like we are no nearer to the driverless trucking tech taking over than we were back then. So whatever the popular answer here is, I won't believe it, and I won't be making stock picks based on it.
    via eingram
  • cowboyromussy I don't think wiped out but I do think a lot of digital designers are going to replaced with Al
    via cowboyromussy
  • airb92 Sad part is I don't think future generations are going to care about the decline in quality that to us would show Al's flaws
    via airb92
  • littlemybb I do digital marketing for small local businesses. We do their social media, websites, google ads, newsletters, blogs, etc. with the way Al is advancing, I really worry that people won't need someone to market for them anymore.
    via littlemybb
  • Like that's still way down the line, but I'm in my 20s. What is this industry going to look like when I'm 50? It's already really hard to find a job.
    via littlemybb
  • Spastic_pinkie I would have to say traditional local in person bank tellers and walk in banks. I'm already seeing these new type of banks showing up. They look like gas stations without the stores and the gas pumps are video ATMs. To do your banking, you drive up to the ATM, request
    via Spastic_pinkie
  • what service you want and if that service requires a teller, you'll be connected to a call center teller (quite possibly an overseas one or Al). If you need to cash a check or deposit money, you just enter them into the ATM. The downside to these is the massive loss of local teller job. You'll no longer have someone from your community to help you with your banking needs.
    via Spastic_pinkie
  • InevitableOne8421 Customer service + call centers are gonna see a lot of trouble with Agentic Al on the horizon. Not good because that industry employs millions of people across the world.
    via InevitableOne8421
  • Beautiful-Aerie7576 My friend is an artist. She made a living off commissions on Twitter. That site going to and the rise of Al has already caused her to lose 80-90% of the commissions she was getting a few years ago. She's currently working a minimum wager to keep what she can in her account while she figures out what to do.
    via Beautiful-Aerie7576
  • Macis BeerGutBabyBump Bridal and formal wear stores/stylists. We're already seeing stores close now at rapid rates. People are buying their wedding dresses and prom/homecoming dresses from SHEIN, Amazon and other cheaper online retailers like Azazie. Brides still try and book appointments and tell us, oh I have a dress, I just didn't get the "Say Yes to the Dress"
    via MacisBeerGutBabyBump
  • experience, so I want to come in and try stuff on. We can't compete with a $50 dress, and brides are caring less and less about quality, because "I'm only wearing it for a few hours." Some bridal shop owners think they can ban together and write their congressional leaders and senators and stop people from buying online,
    via MacisBeerGutBabyBump
  • and I said you really can't. There's really no way to take back the industry. We are in the age of fast fashion, and cheap prices. Gone are the days of spending $1500 on a wedding dress and shopping with your mom and waiting 6-9 months for it to come in. It's not about educating them, and teaching them about quality. It's a different generation and we either get with the times or we get out.
    via MacisBeerGutBabyBump
  • Hyltebbygrl As a therapist, hopefully not. Al seems to tell people what they want to hear rather than effectively challenging people, being able to help reframe things, or understanding different therapy modalities, never mind it couldn't manage a crisis. I don't think it could ever properly diagnose clients.
    via Hyltebbygrl
  • soconn Audiobook Narrators. I am related to one and know several others. Apparently, they've combined existing voices to make different types of Al voice. Feed the text of a book into the Al, wait a bit, and you have an audiobook. It has already caused a significant reduction in the amount of available work.
    via soconn
  • MightGuy8Gates My masters in data science feels pretty useless right now. Saturated market, and Al is being programmed to do coding, analyze trends, create other models, and prepare reports. It's terrifying but I hope I'm wrong :( Shocked I didn't see this reply as one of the first comments
    via MightGuy8Gates
  • kai2124 I recently was hired as a bank teller, but definitely that. The vast majority of the transactions that I process can already be done through online banking, the mobile app, or an ATM. We mainly serve customers that aren't technologically inclined, and that customer demographic gets smaller and smaller every day.
    via kai2124
  • spwnofsaton What about drive thrus? Some places like Taco Bell are already doing it with the order taking. Not sure if they could do the actual food though
    via spwnofsaton
  • MountainRoll29 My hope is that car salespeople go extinct. The dealership model is antiquated and unnecessary. There's no good reason why one can't buy a car completely electronically. Choose car. Add options. Add to basket. Select financing. Complete purchase.
    via MountainRoll29
  • sw33t_lady_propane Medical Coding. The people who listen to your doctor's notes and submit the insurance work will very soon be replaced by Al
    via sw33t_lady_propane
  • khizoa me looking through this thread to find my profession
    via khizoa

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