I’m Not Paranoid
It is harder for a lot of us as we get older to find work, if we are not already working, or want to move to a different area. These are generalisations, but I am viewed as inflexible, old-fashioned, unable to learn, and often simply too old. I don’t know what that means.
If you’re a specialist then it might be easier to find another position, particularly if you’re working in an industry and are known for what you do and are perceived to have value. But even this is changing. Being a specialist no longer affords the cushion it once did.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ng-interactive/2026/apr/07/ai-training-work-jobs
It’s not a new phenomenon. All new technology offers rewards, but it also has victims. You can look at every industry and see when a new tool, machine, or process was introduced that made it quicker, cheaper and required fewer skilled workers. Those who owned the machines reaped the benefits generally. Prices could be made lower, or profit margins raised.
Those who lost their jobs to the new technology had to find a way to utilise their skills in a different way, and if not, then find something that at least allowed them to continue to earn. It may not be at the level they were used to.
I’m certainly earning less now than I used to, but I know that that is down to the choices I have made. I am fortunate in that I do have work, that it is regular, that it’s not a dangerous job. I get to work with others, and to help others. I also know that it’s not a guaranteed job. Recent changes have seen the hours of all those employed reduced. My overall income remains the same so essentially I’m losing money because costs around me have increased and my income has remained the same. It is, of course, to minimise the high cost of wages here in the UK.
My managers, assistant and store, both have inherent bias about employing older staff, despite what we bring in relevant experience and our ability to interact with others. We are also not scared to answer the telephone, which is something an increasing amount of people seem to shy away from. My language and literacy skills are high so I can offer clarification when others ask of it for their emails. I do so gladly. Not everybody is a native English speaker where I work.
As the article states that others have been doing too, I’m using AI tools so that I’m aware and able to use them if I am called upon to do so, or if for future employment opportunities I am asked if I am familiar with these tools I can at least tell them honestly.
Yesterday I asked Claude to write a simple ‘app’ that is essentially HTML that allows me to make some daily notes in a specific format. I could have learned how to code it myself in HTML, but I don’t want to. It took a number of iterations to get it to work as I want and now I run it every morning in my browser. It populates from the day before in certain areas leaving the rest blank. I can export the entry to a text file.
It works. It’s useful to me. I didn’t write it though. I don’t understand how it works and I don’t need to. But somebody does need to understand how these things work. Otherwise we’re handing over all skills to AI. And who will judge their work then?