By Opeyemi Quadri 
There are fears that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other machine learning tools might render human input irrelevant in some skills. This is true considering the way AI is transforming many jobs previously done by humans. However, there are still some jobs where AI cannot be 100% efficient, and where humans will still be needed to oversee the work and tasks executed by machines. These roles often revolve around emotional intelligence, complex decision-making, and hands-on skills that require human judgment and physical dexterity. Below is a list of jobs that will not be taken over by AI, even if machines will still be needed to assist:
Creative Arts and Innovation
We’ve seen how millions of people around the world are using AI-supported creative tools such as Canva, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Grok to generate ideas when they use the right prompts and commands. However, regardless of how perfect the commands are, the depth of human experience, human touch, and originality cannot be compared with what AI generates. Some of the creative areas that may never be overtaken by AI include:
Writers and Storytellers
I have seen content creators who use advanced models of ChatGPT to generate folklore and African stories, but a closer look shows that these stories are incomparable to those written by novelists, screenwriters, and playwrights. Human-written works carry a touch of crafted narratives with emotional depth and cultural nuance that AI struggles to match.
For instance, AI cannot write a story that matches the works of Chinua Achebe or Wole Soyinka, nor can it replicate the first-hand details of Nigeria’s Civil War by Maj. Adewale Ademoyega’s Why We Struck. Can any machine match the human touch and imagination of John Grisham’s Digital Fortress?
Artists and Designers
Painters, sculptors, and illustrators bring unique perspectives that resonate with human needs. This is why it is difficult for machines to replicate the cultural and emotional context humans provide in design-related fields such as architecture and design.
Humans are aware of their environment when coming up with design ideas, whereas AI relies solely on commands. AI will churn out poor results if given the wrong prompts, but humans can see and feel their environment—an edge humans have over AI, making it difficult for machines to take over this area of specialization.
Musicians and Composers
Live performances and the feel musicians bring to the stage at naming ceremonies, graduations, and weddings cannot be replicated by AI. While AI can generate music, the emotional connection and live performance aspects cannot be fully performed by AI. Thus, the roles of musicians and composers cannot be taken over by AI.
Education and Mentorship
AI is already being deployed in online learning platforms in such a way that machines can make suggestions and recommendations based on user preferences. It can also be used to deliver content and personalize learning, but human connection and inspiration are key to education in the following areas:
Teachers and Professors
Even when AI is deployed, teachers will still be needed to guide their students. In universities, academic scholars will always be required to address their students’ emotional needs in projects and research work. This kind of critical thinking is beyond what algorithms can effectively handle.
Coaches and Mentors
In marriage, sports, and professional development, humans will continue to provide real-life guidance devoid of assumptions. For instance, AI cannot perform the roles of a football or swimming coach because these professions require real-life human experience.
This is why most coaches or mentors are people who have walked the path before; they deploy their experience to mentor others. Imagine the millions of people who gain insights from Warren Buffett and Tony Elumelu’s success in entrepreneurship—AI cannot replicate this.
Special Education Specialists
Some students have unique needs that require adaptability, patience, and emotional intelligence that AI can’t fully replicate. Special education specialists will always be needed for students with challenges such as hearing impairments.
Research and Exploration
Large Language Models (LLMs) have access to millions of data points, which can be useful when conducting research. However, some research areas require human input and experience, including:
Investigative Journalists
Human instincts and ethical standards are required to carry out investigative reporting. Investigations into corruption, crime, and governance require digging and sometimes one-on-one interviews, which AI cannot perform. AI relies on online data for its output, while humans go into the field to carry out real investigations. AI cannot perform the risky role of investigative journalists like Christiane Amanpour or Fisayo Soyombo. Fact-checking will always require humans.
Scientists and Researchers
AI cannot accurately formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret results in fields such as anthropology or biology. Even when it does, human input will be required to verify its claims. These areas need human ingenuity and expertise.
Explorers and Fieldworkers
Whether in archaeology, oceanography, or space exploration—such as what Elon Musk’s SpaceX is doing—humans are needed for on-site decision-making and physical discovery.
Healthcare and Medicine
AI can be helpful in analyzing data and assisting with diagnostics, but the human touch is irreplaceable in patient care, complex medical decisions, and the ingenuity of the following professionals in medicine:
Caregivers
Caregivers are specially trained to provide emotional support to their patients, especially senior citizens. They understand their patients’ needs beyond data, and building trust is a deeply human skill. Jobs in these areas cannot be handed over to AI.
Doctors and Surgeons
AI cannot replace doctors, physicians, or other medical professionals who require human judgment and empathy. These professions often involve life-or-death situations and performing intricate surgeries, where human involvement is necessary even when robotics are used.
Therapists and Psychologists
Mental health care relies on empathy, active listening, and understanding complex human emotions. AI cannot replace these areas; active involvement of humans will always be needed.
Social Services and Community Work
These jobs involve navigating complex human situations and societal structures, which AI cannot do:
Spiritual Leaders
Spiritual guidance is based on understanding religion—whether Islam or Christianity—and providing answers to existential and moral dilemmas.
Social Workers
Addressing family dynamics, abuse, or poverty requires empathy, cultural understanding, and on-the-ground problem-solving skills and interactions. Hospitals and NGOs cannot replace their social workers with robots.
Community Organizers
Building trust within communities, advocating for change, joining hands for community development, and understanding the local needs of inhabitants are inherently human tasks, not for AI.
Skilled Trades and Manual Labor
Some jobs require physical presence, improvisation, and sensory skills that are tough for AI to emulate:
Construction Workers
Construction workers such as carpenters, tilers, bricklayers, and plumbers are trained to adapt to unexpected site conditions. Crafting with precision requires human hands and judgment—capabilities AI doesn’t have.
Chefs and Cooks
High-end culinary arts involve creativity, taste, and cultural knowledge. Even in everyday kitchens, adapting recipes on the fly is a human strength.
Farmers and Agricultural Workers
Humans are trained to work with nature’s unpredictability, such as soil conditions, weather, pests, rain, and sun.
Leadership and Justice
The legal system deals with human behavior and morality, which demands human interpretation:
Judges and Lawyers
Interpreting laws, understanding intent, and weighing ethical considerations in court cases need human reasoning and moral judgment. No country can ever leave its judicial system to machines to pass judgment because situations differ in every case, even in similar ones.
Mediators and Arbitrators
Resolving disputes, especially in family or workplace settings, between countries and organizations, requires empathy and effective communication. Situations may change unexpectedly, and humans can respond or adjust to such changes.
AI can’t be sent to mediate or resolve disputes between nations. For instance, real humans, not robots, have been mediating the war between Ukraine and Russia to de-escalate tensions. As technologically advanced as both countries are, robots were not seen at the mediation tables—humans were.
Investigators
Detectives and field investigators rely on intuition, observation, and interpersonal skills to uncover truths that AI can’t fully grasp. Sometimes investigators talk to people on the ground—something AI cannot do.
Executives and Managers
Setting vision, inspiring teams, and making judgment calls in ambiguous situations require emotional intelligence and experience. In most of these roles, the job skills include past experience in similar managerial positions.
Diplomats
International relations, peace talks, and conflict resolution hinge on understanding cultural subtleties and human emotions.
Policy Makers
Crafting laws and regulations involves balancing ethics, public sentiment, long-term societal impacts, and cultural understanding.
Salespeople
This role is high-value and relational, so AI cannot be used because it requires building long-term client relationships, especially in industries like real estate and consumer goods.
Event Planners
Weddings, cultural ceremonies, and corporate events need a human touch to understand client desires and manage chaos on the day.
Hospitality Workers
Hotel managers, concierge services, and tour guides provide personalized experiences that go beyond what AI can predict or deliver.
Why These Areas Need Humans
Across the aforementioned fields, specialized skills are required, which humans are capable of handling. The characteristics that give humans the upper hand are:
- Ethical Judgment: Humans make decisions based on morality, culture, and context.
- Emotional Intelligence: Humans can understand and respond to human emotions in real-time.
- Creativity and Originality: Humans perform better at producing work that resonates on a deeply human level than AI. That’s why some companies still require the expertise of a logo designer instead of generating one with any logo design tools.
- Physical and Sensory Skills: Tasks requiring fine motor skills, improvisation, or sensory feedback.
- Adaptability: Humans are better at handling unpredictable or chaotic situations.
While AI will keep advancing, these areas are likely to remain limited to AI penetration.
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