Ironically, the three trades you listed are in high demand right now specifically because of the rapid rollout of the data centers needed to power AI.

A couple of thoughts on this as a union electrician: for starters AI is absolutely having an (arguably negative) impact on manpower fulfillment. In my area the massive expansion of data centers is causing a manpower shortage for all projects not funded by massive tech companies. This is complicated because it's inflating income for tradesmen due to demand, but it's also pressuring workers into ridiculous schedules (think 4x10s, 2x8s, and most Sundays) and is forcing contractors that aren't running data center work to completely rework their payment structure and bid practices. Many of these sites are also a 1-2 hour commute for a large number of tradies. A lot of these guys have been gaslit for decades into thinking working more OT somehow makes them a better person.

Beyond that, while I haven't personally seen it yet AI will absolutely begin worming its way into design; a process already riddled with issues and errors largely due to time constraints. Clients are going to want work done faster and cheaper, which will pressure design teams into using AI tools in the name of expediency, which will lead to more errors in the construction process, leading to inflated costs and likely problematic installations.

That's not even getting into the future of AI robotics which absolutely will be impacting our tradesmen directly in the near future.

It's coming for us too.

And say goodbye to your knees!

Largely agreed, but if large-scale social problems flood the trades then we have another problem on our hands.

I'm thinking about finishing out my career with that kind of transition.

I've always done various office work and have been good at it, but I know I'm on borrowed time.

At some point in the next 1-3 years, they'll automate 90%+ of what I'm doing, and I'll be out the door. And being late 40s, with the job market being what it is, and admittedly me not skilling up much most of the last decade or so... I have I just don't have what's needed to get back to work in favorable conditions once that inevitable canning happens.

Fortunately, I have a friend of the family who's a long time HVAC guy, and the company he works for has been short handed for quite a while. I figure if I start training up in the very near future, I'll be able to transition over without too many issues, and If I'm careful, I won't have to beat myself up too much in the decade or so before I retire.

I think the powers that be have an ultimate goal of combining AI and robotics to automate the trades too, but they are much further away on that... it should be a safe space for long enough.

Do you get dental?

A drone with a cord goes a long way.

Can you say any more about the type of environmental work?

Psychology? A lot of folks are already using ai as a virtual therapist

Previously the equation was trying to get as much processing out of every kilowatt-hour, now the equation is trying to use as much energy as possible. The impact of AI eclipses IT loads from before by a massive margin, and because of the theory behind it will never, ever do any better than it is right now. The environmental impact should bother you because it's massive and getting bigger.

And you're helping set it up and keep it going. I know what it's like to run a datacenter, I did it for a decade and a half. I'm not going to say I'm making more money now, but I do sleep much better.

What? Ikea wrecked that a long time ago. Not that you can't make a living but the demand isn't high in any way whatsoever. Hand crafted furniture has become a luxury.

IKEA made that a niche market though.

See if Haven Social are hiring?

would be nice if i can make a living out of doing that lol

Alas, they're not paying for that. They're not paying for what they need to achieve their goals either.

I'm so tired of my skill and income being beholden to the whims of bullshit artists though.

I'm a local truck driver for a smallish local trucking company. My company installed new dash cams with both internal and external cameras. Every truck I know has at the internal camera at least covered in tape, if not removed completely (Mine is gone completely). If my company required the internal cameras, at least half the fleet would likely quit and it would be catastrophic for the company.

One of the perks of the job is being alone and just chilling out most of the day. You don't get to watch me.

Architecture is the other one that worries me. I don't like the idea of unknowingly walking around in a building that was designed by AI. I work with AI and it can't even be trusted to write a blog post correctly, let alone design a building that's safe. And I know if I'm thinking of that now, it means someone else has already thought of and attempted it at least 6 months ago.

You're joking me right? I'm pretty sure this is actively happening. they're going to put the kids in individual tubes with iPads and a toilet

Just be careful of people who volunteer at non profits. Most will be good, but since they're not getting paid, their motivation may be strongly ego driven. That can be problematic.

Inference of 3D models exists. Combined with a rule deck of what the machine is capable of (i.e. so tools aren't broken) I think you could be very close to "prompt to object" prototyping flows — if they don't already exist.

Still might need a pair of hands to clean up.

Now, how many botched tries are people willing to to pay the material cost of, who knows?

I recently had to work without an IDE on some code made by a *thunder crack* Java Senior. There was 4 redirections in 3 different files for something that, hopefully, got inlined at compile time. I swear it gets worse with age.

A different kind of slop..I'd prefer it

I actually think you are on to something here as I feel like there will always be people who desire to be with a "real human".

That said if they ever developed something like a holodeck in real life I can see it making a dent in the industry.

Like morally I'm completely fine with prostitution, although in practice consent is hugely important for me, and you can never be truly certain if they are being coerced into the practice by a pimp/madam/other extenuating circumstance. With a computer consent really becomes a non issue, and thus a little more "morally okay".

An interesting thing about CAD is that the field got decimated in the switch to computers. You can choose to either go up the technical chain to be a great detailer or progress in CAD management since Autodesk and Bentley only do so much

Boeing has entered the chat.

isn't safe

I work in fiber installation. I already have to deal with an ai copilot micromanaging me all day. Unless you are self employed, I doubt there's going to be any choice.

Theyre rolling out cameras in our with vehicle with AI in it to tell when our eyes aren't on the road and shit like that. From what I can tell, it's just been alerting constantly for no reason at the people testing it out.