Thomsen Young

How will AI and automation change our daily professional lives by 2035?

If you really think about it, 2035 isn’t that far away. Yet, in the times that we live in, it seems that as time goes by, it’s coming faster than we can possibly fathom. Elon Musk’s goal is to send hundreds, if not thousands, of rockets to Mars within that time frame. Honestly, we never thought that cars would be automated to drive us from one place to another without touching the steering wheel (think, “Back to the Future,” where the DeLorean still had a steering wheel). Even the concept of flying vehicles (drones) is making an incredible impact on our daily lives (from military to package deliveries), utilizing AI to make this possible right now.

I’m not going to go through the history of AI, but I will say that the concept of AI isn’t completely new, but we are still early in adopting AI overall as a society. When ChatGPT came out, nobody fully understood how to use it. Speaking from my own personal experience, I remember when ChatGPT was first released; the only way you could interact with it was by going to the website, typing your prompt, and then waiting a few minutes for the response. It wasn’t fast, but it did the job. It couldn’t provide long answers, only short, brief ones. It couldn’t generate pictures, and you certainly couldn’t interact with it using your voice as you can do now. Now, the possibilities of using AI are everywhere on your phone, and there are now hundreds, if not thousands, of companies competing to integrate their AI products into your daily life as if your life might solely depend on it.

Professional lives are already depending on AI and automation in workplaces at this very moment. From using Apple Intelligence to the paid version of ChatGPT, and even using Grok, professional content creators employ Grok to develop images, generate prompts for their next post, and use it to edit, proofread, and even rephrase their own words to make them sound more professional, creative, and ahead of the curve. You can be in a Tesla (an automated car), talk on X Spaces, draft a post, ask Grok to edit it, respond to text messages and emails while going from home to your workplace, all while being efficient and not losing productivity for the company you work for. If that isn’t awesome already, I don’t know what else is. It’s only going to get much better as time goes on. Who knows? I might even ask Grok to insert a funny comment in a subconscious way that you would think I made up myself, and you would never know it was Grok that created it. (I am so tempted to do that!)

So what about 2035? What do I think it will look like when it comes to the workplace using AI and automation?

It’s interesting to note that companies are starting to require people to return to work in-person at the office, five days a week. Honestly, I don’t think that will last long, and companies will go back to a hybrid format by 2035. Companies are already admitting that because of AI, some workers are no longer needed since AI can do those jobs better and more efficiently. However, there’s a catch. Let’s use customer service as an example: while the majority of companies are using AI as a front for customer services, like automated chat for common questions, they still cannot handle more complicated issues or questions. I’ll use my own personal experience with using AI for Mint Mobile.

I had just gotten a new iPhone that I ordered from Mint Mobile, but I wanted to keep my old iPhone as a backup. After backing up my new iPhone using an iCloud backup, I tried transferring my old phone number to my new phone. I got a popup on my old phone saying the transfer was successful; however, when I tried making a call, it didn’t work. Now, I was stuck with two phones, neither of which could make calls, and I couldn’t call Mint Mobile. So, I logged into their website, started the AI chat, informed the AI of my issues, and was then connected with a live agent. After about 10 minutes, my new phone received a new eSIM with my old phone number, and I was good to go. Here’s where it might get interesting in 2035; AI will be able to do this without needing a live agent. That live agent might be supervising the AI, ensuring it doesn’t make mistakes, and if it does, the agent could correct it and modify the process to ensure accuracy for future customers. What blows my mind is that by 2035, we might not even need a live agent to correct mistakes; instead, the AI could self-correct. AI and automation perfected seamlessly without human intervention. Wild.

I’ll keep this brief, but watch for these five ways AI will transform our daily professional lives:

1. Job Role Shifts: This is already happening, but watch for major shifts in job roles with some traditional jobs being automated, leading to new roles in AI oversight, data analysis, and human-AI collaboration.
2. AI-Driven Tools: One thing I love about AI is the tools they provide. Watch for widespread use of AI-driven tools that automate routine tasks, from scheduling to report generation, allowing professionals like us to focus on strategic and creative tasks.
3. Virtual and Augmented Reality Workspaces: Like I said earlier, hybrid work is never going away, so watch for further evolution of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for workspaces, making remote work more immersive. AI could enhance virtual meetings by providing real-time data analysis, sentiment analysis, and even automated minutes of meetings.
4. Upskilling and Reskilling: From now (2025) to 2035, we will see a huge uptick in the need for professionals to upskill and reskill as AI technologies evolve. Watch how AI could play a role in personalized education and training, adapting to individual learning styles and career paths.
5. Legislation and Ethics: Lastly, watch how your lawmakers and Congress react to AI (key word is “react” because Congress does a horrible job being proactive when it comes to technological evolution). Watch for an increased focus on the ethical implications of AI in the workplace, including privacy concerns, data security, and fairness in AI decision-making processes. Legislation might evolve to address these issues.

Who knows what 2035 will bring, but I do know that these developments will likely reshape not only what we do at work but also how we interact with technology, colleagues, and our work environment.

2035 will sneak up on you like a whisper in the wind, and before you’ve even caught your breath, it’ll be here, turning the future into now.