Ep 29 - Future-Proofing w/ AI: Unusual AI Careers

Your dream career in artificial intelligence might not involve a single line of code. Beyond the stereotypical image of machine learning engineers hunched over algorithms lies a vibrant ecosystem of creative, ethical, and deeply human AI careers that are transforming our world.

The AI revolution touches every industry—from agriculture to art, conservation to communication—creating unprecedented opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds and skillsets. Creative minds find homes as AI Prompt Engineers crafting the conversations powering language models, or as Synthetic Persona Designers building consistent AI-driven virtual influencers. Artists collaborate with machine learning to create hybrid performances that push creative boundaries in ways never before possible.

For those passionate about social and environmental impact, AI opens remarkable pathways. Wildlife conservationists deploy computer vision to protect endangered species, while climate specialists use predictive models to address our most pressing environmental challenges. AI Ethnographers ensure technology respects cultural contexts, studying how different communities interact with artificial intelligence systems.

The human experience remains central to AI's development through specialists who make technology feel more intuitive and cognitive architects who model human thought processes for training simulations. Meanwhile, governance experts shape the ethical frameworks and policies that will determine how AI serves humanity.

What unites these diverse roles isn't technical expertise but uniquely human strengths—empathy, storytelling ability, ethical reasoning, and creative problem-solving. You don't need to be a machine learning expert to explore these paths. Start with what you already know, experiment with accessible AI tools as creative playgrounds, and join community projects to build experience.

The most exciting thing about today's AI landscape is how many different paths lead into it. Whether you're an artist, teacher, designer, or community leader, your unique perspective has value. The future of artificial intelligence isn't just technical—it's deeply human. And there's room for everyone to shape what comes next.

Want to join a community of AI learners and enthusiasts? AI Ready RVA is leading the conversation and is rapidly rising as a hub for AI in the Richmond Region. Become a member and support our AI literacy initiatives.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Inspire AI, the podcast where we
explore how artificialintelligence is reshaping our
world.
I'm your host, jason McGinty,and today we're venturing off
the beaten path.
What if I told you that yourdream job in AI might not
involve coding at all?
We often picture AIprofessionals as machine

(00:24):
learning engineers or datascientists, heads down in the
code tweaking algorithms, buttoday we're uncovering something
different the lesser known butfast growing AI career paths
that blend creativity, ethics,storytelling and real world
impact.
You might just discover afuture you didn't see coming.

(00:47):
Let's dive into 10 unusual butinspiring AI careers that are
emerging in this age ofintelligent technology.
Ai is becoming a horizontalforce touching every industry,
not just technology, fromagriculture and conservation to

(01:07):
art and anthropology.
Artificial intelligence isopening doors for people from
diverse backgrounds, but withopportunity comes disruption.
In a recent article by Forbes,anthropic CEO Dario Amadei
warned that the impact of AI onjobs could be far more dramatic
than anticipated.

(01:28):
He noted that, while AI willopen new avenues for creativity
and efficiency, it could alsoautomate entire categories of
work, including somewhite-collar professions once
thought immune.
This growing disruption meansit's more important than ever to
explore emerging human-centeredroles that leverage creativity,

(01:50):
ethics and emotionalintelligence.
Many of the careers we'll talkabout today are perfect for
creatives, strategists,educators and social scientists.
What's the key?
Thinking beyond the algorithm.
If you've ever felt like youdon't fit the traditional AI
mold, this episode is for you.

(02:12):
Each of the careers we're aboutto explore offers a unique
fusion of traditional expertiseand AI innovation.
To help bring these roles tolife, we've included a potential
path for each, illustrating howsomeone from a non-AI
background might break into thefield.
Whether you're a writer,teacher, artist, analyst or

(02:36):
advocate, your existingstrengths and experiences can be
powerful assets in thisevolving AI landscape.
Let's begin with some of themost imaginative roles in AI
Careers that merge creativity,language and technology in
compelling new ways.
First, we have the AI promptengineer and narrative designer.

(02:59):
These professionals craft theconversations and scenarios that
power large language models,from scripting AI companions and
game characters to developingeducational tutors or mental
wellness bots.
They help AI speak in ways thatfeel natural and meaningful.
So a pathway to this careermight be as a creative writer,

(03:22):
screenwriter or content creatormight be as a creative writer,
screenwriter or content creator.
You could begin byexperimenting with tools like
ChachiBT or Claude, studyingprompt design strategies and
building a sample portfolio ofdialogue flows or character
interactions.
The free online resources andprompt hackathons are great
places to start.

(03:43):
Next is the AI performanceartist, where art and machine
learning intersect.
These artists use generative AIto co-create music, visual art,
immersive theater or multimediainstallations.
For example, artists like HollyHerndon integrate AI models

(04:05):
trained on their own voices tocompose collaborative
performances.
The pathway here?
Well, musicians, visual artists, digital creatives can explore
AI-based tools like Refusion,runwayml or DALI Runway ML or
DALI.
By incorporating these toolsinto their workflow and

(04:26):
showcasing hybrid performances,they can build a presence in the
growing AI art community.
The third role is syntheticpersona designer.
This career involves creatingand managing AI-driven virtual
influencers or digitalcharacters.
These personas can representbrands, deliver entertainment or

(04:50):
act as social guides withconsistent personality, tone and
content.
A pathway here to this careerfield would be a social media
manager or a marketingstrategist, maybe even a brand
storyteller.
They can move into this spaceby learning avatar creation with
platforms like Synthesia orCharacterai, where they'll gain

(05:15):
an understanding of digitalstorytelling and experimenting
with personality-driven content,calendars, driven content
calendars.
So each of these three careersoffers a powerful way to channel
your storytelling, design andbranding expertise in the world
of AI.
No technical degree required.
So, aside from the creativenarrative roles, we also have

(05:38):
impact-driven roles.
This is where we will shift ourgear to mission-driven AI
careers, roles where innovationmeets impact.
So first I'd like to introduceyou to AI for Climate and
Agriculture Specialist.
These professionals use AI toaddress some of the world's most
pressing environmentalchallenges, like predicting crop

(06:01):
yields, modeling climatepatterns or monitoring soil and
plant health with computervision.
It's where sustainability anddata science join forces.
So, as a pathway, anenvironmental scientist,
ergonomist or sustainabilityanalysts can step into this role
by learning how to work withgeospatial datasets or open

(06:23):
source AI platforms likeTensorFlow or Earth Engine, then
partnering with researchers andcivic tech teams to apply AI to
real-world ecologicalchallenges.
More on this path, we also havethe AI wildlife conservationist
.
In this role, ai helps protectendangered species by powering

(06:46):
image recognition tools,analyzing migration patterns and
coordinating anti-poachingefforts.
Picture drones paired with AIspotting animals in real time.
It's conservation in highdefinition.
To become an AI wildlifeconservationist, a biologist or

(07:09):
conservation field worker orecotourism professional can
begin exploring conservationtech, then partner with NGOs
using AI-enabled cameras ordrones.
Learning computer vision basics, geospatial information system
mapping tools also will helpstrengthen the transition.

(07:31):
And finally, we have AIethnographer.
This fascinating role blendsanthropology and data to study
how different communitiesinteract with AI, whether it's
understanding how rural farmersuse mobile lending tools or how
youth engage with AI tutors.
Ethnographers provide thecultural insights that ensure

(07:55):
technology respects its usersinsights that ensure technology
respects its users.
So if you're a sociologist, ananthropologist or a field
researcher, you can start bycollaborating on AI deployment
studies, learning qualitativedata analysis tools and
co-authoring insights that shapemore equitable AI systems.

(08:17):
And these three roles provethat AI doesn't just live in
labs and startups.
It's being used in forests,farms and villages.
And if you care about peopleand the planet, well, there's
room for you to make adifference here too.
All right, so we've gonethrough two vastly different

(08:44):
career paths with multipleexperiences, job families and
specialists.
Next are the roles that centeraround understanding and
modeling human behavior.
For example, a human AIinteraction specialist focuses
on making AI feel more naturaland intuitive.
They work at the intersectionof psychology, user experience
and interface design.
Picture designing a voiceassistant that can detect tone

(09:08):
and adjust its responsesaccordingly, or building
interfaces for emotion-awarechatbots.
So a UX designer or behavioralresearcher could step into the
space by learning aboutAI-driven user interfaces, voice
and emotion detectiontechnologies and human-centered
design practices.

(09:28):
So if you're one of those folks, start with tools like Bigma,
voiceflow, effectiva that canbuild the bridge from the
traditional UX to the AIintegrated experiences.
Next we have the CognitiveArchitect for Digital Twins.
Yep, I'll say that againCognitive Architect for Digital

(09:49):
Twins.
This job involves simulatinghuman thought processes to
create AI-powered trainingavatars.
For example, emergencyresponders might use a virtual
training environment whereavatars behave like real people
under stress, and thesebehaviors are shaped by

(10:09):
cognitive modeling.
So if you're an instructionaldesigner, psychologist or
operations trainer, you couldbegin by learning about
agent-based modeling andbehavioral simulation platforms.
Gaining familiarity with Unityor simulation tools used in
serious gaming can help bringrealistic AI avatars to life.

(10:32):
Finally, we're going to talkabout governance and strategy
type roles.
These roles guide the ethicaland strategic use of AI.
The AI policy advisor isresponsible for shaping the
rules and frameworks around AIsystems.
They might advise citygovernments on how to deploy

(10:54):
facial recognition responsiblyor help write legislation that
ensures equitable access to AIbenefits.
So if you're a public policyanalyst, ethicist or legal
researcher, you can start byengaging with AI ethics case
studies, exploring responsibleAI toolkits and following

(11:16):
organizations like OECD,partnership on AI, or even Babel
.
Ai Writing policy briefs orparticipating in civic tech
communities can open doors tothese types of advisory roles.
Similarly, the AI governanceconsultant audits AI systems to

(11:37):
make sure that they comply withlegal and ethical standards.
These folks will assess risk,fairness, bias and
explainability.
For example, in healthcare,these consultants might ensure
that an AI used for diagnosisperforms equally well across

(11:57):
diverse populations and providestransparency into its
recommendations into itsrecommendations.
So if you're a complianceofficer or risk analyst, or even
have a passion for diversityand inclusion as a leader, you
can build on your experience bylearning how fairness metrics
and model audit tools work.
Participating in AI governanceworkshops hey, even AI Ready.

(12:22):
Rva has a governance cohort andcross-disciplinary forums will
help translate existing skillsinto AI-aligned consulting.
Or even following along withGovernor Glenn Youngkin's
Artificial Intelligence TaskForce.
Each of these roles showcases aunique way to apply AI outside

(12:44):
of traditional tech pipelines.
Showcases a unique way to applyAI outside of traditional tech
pipelines.
They're creative, impactful and, most importantly, they're open
to people with a wide varietyof skills and backgrounds.
So here's the good news youdon't need to be a machine
learning expert to explore thesepaths.
Many roles value empathy,storytelling, behavioral science

(13:04):
, ux design, ethical thinkingand creative problem solving.
Here's the idea.
Start with what you alreadyknow.
Whether you're a teacher,designer, social worker or
artist, ai needs your lens.
Tools like ChatGPT, midjourney,open data sets, can be

(13:25):
playgrounds for exploration.
Look into platforms like DeepLearning, ai, edx and Coursera
to gain foundational knowledge.
You can also joinvolunteer-driven AI for Good
projects like AI Ready, rva, orbuild a small portfolio to show

(13:45):
how your expertise translatesinto AI context.
On a personal note, one of themost exciting things about the
AI landscape is how many pathsthere are into it.
People from all walks of lifeartists, teachers, designers,
community leaders arediscovering ways to bring their

(14:06):
unique talents to AI.
You don't have to come from atechnical background to make a
real impact.
What matters most is yourperspective, your curiosity and
your willingness to explorewhere the strengths intersect
with this powerful technology.
The future of AI isn't justtechnical.

(14:26):
It's deeply human.
So, as we wrap this up,remember this the AI revolution
is bigger than code.
It's human revolution too, andthere's room for everyone.
Explore one of these roles.
Share this episode with someonewho's curious about what's next

(14:46):
for their career, and ifsomething in this list sparked
your interest, let us know We'dlove to dive deeper into a
future episode.
Thanks for tuning in to InspireAI and until next time, stay
curious, stay creative and neverstop imagining the future you
want to build.