Posted on 02/18/2026 10:07:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Elon Musk just identified which jobs go first, and it destroys every assumption about who’s safe.
Musk: “AI is going to take over those jobs like lightning. Anything that is digital, which is like just someone at a computer doing something.”
Not factory workers. Office workers. The people who spent decades assuming education and desk jobs meant security are actually first.
Musk: “Anything that’s physically moving atoms… those jobs will exist for a much longer time.”
Output is a file? Vulnerable. Output is physical? Protected. That’s the entire framework.
Musk: “AI is really still digital.”
AI doesn’t need a body. Doesn’t need an office. Just needs access to the same software you use. Executes faster. Never tires. Costs nothing to scale.
But it can’t weld. Can’t wire a building. Can’t fix pipes or work soil.
Musk: “Literally welding, electrical work, plumbing. Those jobs will exist for a much longer time.”
Trades aren’t the vulnerable jobs. They’re the durable ones. Physical presence, real-world adaptation, manual dexterity provide protection no digital credential offers.
Analyst, accountant, paralegal, programmer, anyone producing files and documents, automates first because digital work is exactly what AI does natively.
Person moving atoms has natural defense. Physics, unpredictable environments, material resistance create friction AI can’t scale past.
Person moving bits has nothing. No friction. No physical barrier. Just software AI already operates better than most humans.
The assumption that desk work and degrees represent safety just inverted completely. College graduate producing documents faces faster displacement than the electrician producing installations.
Society spent generations telling people trades were beneath them. Pushed everyone toward offices and screens. Turns out the people who didn’t listen built the most automation-resistant careers.
Most ironic outcome of the AI revolution. The work society treated as inferior turned out to be the work society couldn’t replace. And the work society valued most turned out to be the easiest to eliminate.
RE: My kids keep sending me AI videos. They look so real. I don’t like it one bit.
There are discussions of a movie being made starring an AI created actress named Tilly Norwood ( Google her ), with all supporting actors and actresses played by AI Creations.
AVAILABLE FOR INSTANT DOWNLOAD! VCarve Pro provides a powerful but intuitive software solution for cutting parts on a CNC Router, including large parts in excess of 24’’ x 24’’. It includes tools for 2D design and calculation of 2D and 2.5D toolpaths, along with the ability to import and toolpath a single 3D model (STL, OBJ etc.). There is also support to import multiple Vectric Clip Art 3D models (V3M) to create 3D assemblies. Scroll down to see the additional features that VCarve Pro has over the VCarve Desktop version.
The software can import 2D designs from other programs but also provides a full set of drawing and editing tools. The toolpath options cover all typical 2D routing operations such as Profiling, Pocketing, Auto-Inlays and Drilling as well as 2.5D strategies such as V-Carving, Prism carving, Fluting and even a decorative Texturing strategy. For 3D you can Rough and Finish the model and there are options to project 2D and 2.5D toolpaths onto the 3D surface. Each toolpath includes appropriate options to customize the settings and provide a high level of control for different types of operation. In addition, all toolpaths can be previewed to show just how the part will look when it is actually cut, this allows instant feedback to allow toolpaths to be further optimized.
VCarve includes the functionality demanded for complex work while remaining incredibly easy to use and affordably priced. The software is used by cabinet makers, wood workers, sign makers, prop makers, plastic fabricators, hobbyists and in many other applications.
https://toolstoday.com/vcarve-pro-10-0-software-for-cnc-1.html
RE: I deliver mail. No AI can do what I do.
Well, Amazon is already starting to experiment with drone delivered packages.
In fact, Drone‑delivered packages aren’t science fiction anymore — they’re real, operating, and scaling, but not yet universal. Think of 2026 as the moment when drone delivery moved from “pilot novelty” to early commercial infrastructure.
Companies like Zipline, Wing, and Amazon are already running real delivery networks.
By early 2026, these companies have logged hundreds of thousands of autonomous flights, delivering medicine, food, small parcels, and retail goods.
So the elites want us all to be labor slaves. GREAT!
There are 2 distinct classes of manufacture.
1. Mass production in large quantity
2. Production in very small quantities
Category 1 is highly suitable for automation.
Category 2 is highly UNsuitable for automation and will require human work.
Being poor did have one advantage. I got good at fixing my own car because I could not afford paying someone else to do it .
The intention of illegal immigration was to replace Americans.
The intention of AI is to replace everyone.
On this hand, AI is going to take over the world and render many tasks performed by humans redundant.
On the other hand, AI, the latest greatest bubble which won’t live up to the hype and settle in as a useful tool.
I understand what you are saying, but the “systems” are forcing those mistakes back on the clients during the input process.
I cannot stand how many online forms I have to fill out that will not let you move forward without precision in every box. I understand it, but I don’t “like” the experience.
We are moving quickly into an environment where the systems will say, “We gave you EXACLTY what you asked for.” This will cut down on “errors.” It will not enhance “satisfaction.”
I worked in a service industry my whole life and what I know is that most people do not really KNOW what they want when they call a company with a complaint.
I think we really need to train our kids how to ask questions. It sounds simple, but proper formatting with specific inclusions and exclusions will produce the best results. This during a time when most customers have a hard time stringing together words into a coherent sentence.
I think that the components we normally use will be not used in the future.
I think we will be faced with an entire new method and way of building.
It sounds like it may replace female jobs in certain sectors like telephony.
The manual labor that most men do will not be as affected as much.
This is great. Now Moms can stay home.
We need to get back to a one income, family society anyway.
I know wishful thinking.
They are coming for those non-electron pushing jobs after all ....
Computer Science Engineering is not typing code into a computer. Just like C code reduced the typing from assembly language, which reduced the flipping switches to load machine code, AI will reduce the type needing to create code. May also reduce the simple bugs, but leave the really nasty ones for the humans to hunt down. Coding is taking customer input, turning it into requirements then creating code and test cases from the requirements. The hard part is taking customer inputs and figuring out all the ways they can mess it up intentionally or accidentally. I see great expansion of hacking as AI creates new holes to exploit.
I retired from this after 30 years of programing/testing and hardware design on just about every type of system from small to large. Love small , still do that for fun.
Everything looks like a nail to a hammer salesman.
I think what AI is going to demand is greater emphasis on understanding fundamentals - math, physics, chemistry, etc. You have to know enough to be suspicious that you might be getting BS from AI. Also you have to know enough to formulate the questions to AI.
It worries me that it seems we’re being more successfully ‘trained’ to think and express ourselves in ways that fit the software than vice-versa...
Essentially any job that requires physical human presence, local trust, empathy, and real world execution won’t be replaced anytime soon.
ping
Amazon is not going to use drones where I deliver.
I can tell you one job that is already obsolete:
Research Assistant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.