'The hype is way overblown': 15 Employees quietly changing their career plans because of AI

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Jun 2, 2026 4:00 PM EDT

AI hype is everywhere these days, but is the buzzword worth changing your entire career? 

For a graphic designer, it might be, but for a city planner, AI is just a fad and ultimately a useful tool in creating a better workflow. Depending on which way you slice it, AI can be equal parts terrifying and intriguing. And even if its implementation is going to result in deforestation plans and corn field leveling for the next big data center, the AI train is not going to stop; employees just have to figure out how to hop the rails and hold on tight! 

It seems like every office executive is obsessed with AI these days. As if they're overhyping their AI girlfriend or falling in love with their Siri assistant like Joaquin Phoenix's character in Her, C-level bosses simply loooove to rave about their AI escapades. For those of us who are chronically online and have been mainlined into the Internet system since we were 10 years old, AI isn't actually anything that new; it's been around for decades, and the CEOs are just now discovering it. 

Obsessing over AI isn't getting the C-levels anywhere, but for the employees whose careers are potentially on the chopping block because of an unfinished AI tool, it all feels a bit scary to wonder how we're going to be whiplashed next. Luckily, there are very few these days who are lucky enough to remain in the same career field for their entire lives, so for the bulk of the workforce, the AI craze is just going to result in a premature pivot. 

Like the Friend's episode where they bicker at each other to try and get a couch up the fire escape stairs, we need to put our heads together and get the job done, my fellow employees. Just like Ross and Joey forcing a sectional up a flight of stairs, we need to pivot, PIVOT. 

Ironically, the jobs most easily replaced by the current AI modules are filled by those who are making calls about mass firings. So the next time your CEO babbles on about ChatGPT or Claude without understanding that their job could be next, be sure to remind them that a C-level executives job is actually the most highly replaceable position… Wouldn't that be interesting to note?

Until then, check out this list of workers who are anticipating a big change for the future, hoping to find solace on Reddit's r/careerguidance forum in the process.

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  • Cheezburger Image 10635683584
    via Getty Images (fizkes)

    A fictional female subject staring into space while working on her computer. 

  • Is anyone else quietly changing their career plans because of Al?
    via Bliss_kittie
  • A year ago I was pretty confident about my career path, but lately I've been second guessing it after seeing how fast Al tools are
    via Bliss_kittie
  • improving. I'm curious has Al actually change. the career you're pursuing, or is it mostly just internet hype? What field are you in, and has your outlook changed in the last 12 months?
    via Bliss_kittie
  • Cheezburger Image 10635683328
    via Getty Images (fizkes)

    Female model is stressing out about work while sitting at her desk.

  • InnerStorage7458 I work in recruitment and honestly the hype is way overblown for most fields. Al has changed how I do parts of my job, screening, scheduling, drafting job ads, but it
    via InnerStorage7458
  • hasn't replaced the actual judgment calls that matter. The people who are panicking tend to be in roles that were already heavily process-driven,
    via InnerStorage7458
  • and those were always at risk of automation regardless of Al. The careers I'd actually worry about are the ones where the entire value
    via InnerStorage7458
  • proposition is producing volume output (basic copywriting, data entry, simple analysis). If your career involves relationships, complex decision making, or navigating ambiguity,
    via InnerStorage7458
  • you've got way more runway than the internet would have you believe.
    via InnerStorage7458
  • Primary_Excuse_7183. I think everyone should always have flexible career plans. It's unwise to think you'll work 40 years and nothing will change in the macro or micro environment
    via Primary_Excuse_7183
  • ljb00000. I think it's going to boomerang. The vast majority of people are wholesale rejecting it because of the cost, quality issues, and threats to career/livelihood. The product was smoke and mirrors-hype before it could live up to the hype. I have a
    via ljb00000
  • sense that Al companies/investors see the backlash and are quietly pulling back (or not quietly because they're hemorrhaging money) and will have to recalibrate and wait for the technology and/or genAl to truly catch up. But once it does
    via ljb00000
  • right back where we are now, but faster and more aggressively. So yes, my husband and I are both preparing ourselves for sh to hit the fan. This isn't
    via ljb00000
  • to adopt a variation of the FIRE mentality so we can live off our savings should we both get laid off and aren't able to find work again. We're in that awkward stage where we're in typical "prime career years,"
    via ljb00000
  • but old enough where we might start running into ageism in a few years if forced back into the job market.
    via ljb00000
  • Cheezburger Image 10635683840
    via Getty Images (fizkes)

    Coworkers gathering around a computer at work, as portrayed by models. 

  • trentsiggy ⚫ I'm going into more and more FIRE mode, where I'm not spending any money and hoping I have the resources to survive extended unemployment or making it to retirement.
    via trentsiggy
  • Adventurous_Stick198. I'm leaving IT Sales to study Urban Planning. Mainly because sales was draining me and I'm passionate about urban systems and have been
    via Adventurous_Stick198
  • selling in related industries. I also think the field is relatively Al resistant.
    via Adventurous_Stick198
  • AnnaZ820 Data Analytics. Nah I won't change my career path. I think Al is going to replace the juniors, if it ever replaces anyone, so I don't wanna be a junior in some other fields.
    via AnnaZ820
  • neverTouched Women ⚫ yes brah, im trying to get into an accelerated nursing program after giving up on software engineering search with 2yoe.
    via neverTouched
  • DataCamp ⚫ Al is changing how work gets done, but the people who understand data and can work alongside these tools are becoming more valuable, not less. The pattern we keep seeing is that Al automates the repetitive
    via DataCamp
  • parts of a role while making the analytical and creative parts more important. If anything, it's a reason to lean into technical skills - Python, SQL, understanding how models actually work -
    via DataCamp
  • because the people who can bridge "business need" and "Al capability" are in absurdly high demand right now. We wouldn't change direction out of fear; but double down on becoming the person who knows how to use these tools!
    via DataCamp
  • HFT-University ⚫ I have changed career plans at least three times (I was a civil engineer, then supercomputing, then finance, then education) because of TECHNOLOGY.
    via HFT-University
  • Mysterious_Tech30 ⚫ Not core because of Al but tons of stuffs so left the whole marketing domain and changing to different domain.
    via Mysterious_Tech30
  • BrownEmie · With the same career plan, I'm learning Al tools to do my work effectively.
    via BrownEmie
  • _ChristmasSunday ⚫ It depends on the field. Think about skills you can acquire that can be applicable to different industries.
    via _ChristmasSunday
  • Bird Brain4101112. Every new major innovation changes the way a lot of jobs are done and a lot of new jobs are created.
    via Bird Brain4101112
  • clickclank9. Was going to school for graphic design, was working in purchasing at the time, now I'm a safety manager at an automotive assembly plant. Changed my career and degree because of Al
    via clickclank9

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