Microsoft AI CEO curiously omits 'Microsoft AI CEO' from list of white collar jobs that will be replaceable by AI in next 18 months

It's been at least 17 minutes since I've read a breathless prediction about AI superintelligence making my brain obsolete, but thankfully Microsoft AI CEO spoke with the Financial Times this week to deliver a doozy: we're a mere 12-18 months away from AI being able to do the job of practically anybody sitting at a desk.

"I think that we're going to have a human-level performance on most, if not all, professional tasks," he said in the interview, as reported by Business Insider. By professional tasks, Suleyman elaborated, he was referring to white collar jobs mostly done at a computer. "Either being a lawyer or an accountant or a project manager or a marketing person—most of those tasks will be fully automated by an AI within the next 12 to 18 months," he said.

Hmm—odd. Do you notice anything missing in that comprehensive list of white collar jobs above? I'm racking my brain trying to think of other jobs one might do primarily seated at a computer. Oh! I know! What about "Mostly sitting in a lot of meetings, sending emails telling other people what to do, and making wild predictions that get investors excited regardless of how moored they are in reality?"

That's a little long as a job title, so we can probably shorten it to "tech executive" or perhaps just "CEO" to really keep the ideas flowing. Being good at business is all about being agile, you know?

Suleyman went on to cite AI's improvements in software engineering in just the last six months to back up the statement, but I have to admit that I find it to be a wee bit of a leap, if not actively insulting, to conclude that a technology made by programmers, for programmers will prove just as adept at other white collar roles. If Suleyman's willing to employ ChatGPT as his personal lawyer in the event he ever ends up in a court room, though, he will have my utmost respect.

While I am perhaps unfairly giving Microsoft's AI chief a hard time for not placing his own head beneath the guillotine, his casual tossing-off of the jobs he sees as easily performed by AI in the near future reminded me of a recent anecdote that's stuck with me:

it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI

"It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence relies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't."

Guilty as charged: I've never been an AI CEO, and can't say I really know a thing about the hard-earned human skills Suleyman employs in the daily performance of his role. But I don't think Mustafa Suleyman has been a lawyer, or an accountant, or knows the ins-and-outs of "most, if not all, professional tasks."

At least I'm only guilty of suggesting one type of job could be replaced by a machine that regurgitates, in occasionally sensible order, pieces of human expression stolen from wherever they could be found.