The debate around artificial intelligence taking away jobs has taken a new turn. This time, the concern is coming from within the AI industry itself. According to a recent claim shared online, AI may replace human researchers before it affects engineers or sales professionals — a view that goes against what many people expect
Sales teams however are a different tory altogether. Jin describes them as being as a field deeply tied to human psychology. The post drew responses from other engineers and researchers. Even a software engineer named Sergey Nikiforov.
Among those who left were Jason Wei and Zhiqing Sun, both researcher scientist who joined Meta in July. Hyung Won Chung, another researcher who also made the move and publicly spoke about the issue of researchers taking over. Shuchao Bi, who worked on reinforcement, learning and multimodal systems, also left for Meta. These exits followed an earlier wave of leadership changes in 2024, when open AI saw the departure of senior figures such as CTO Mira Murati. Today CEO Sam Altman is one of only two remaining members from OpenAI’s original founding team.
This discussion began after a post on X by Yuchen Jin, co-founder and CTO of Hyperbolic Labs. He shared insights which were reportedly coming from an OpenAI employee. According to this view, research roles in AI companies could be automated sooner than other jobs like infrastructure engineering or sales.
This idea surprised many in the tech community. Since research jobs are usually seen as highly skilled and creative, making them seem safer from automation. However, the insider believes that AI systems are advancing fast enough to take over certain types of research work.
Why Research Roles May Be Vulnerable?
The main reason behind this argument is the nature of research tasks. Although most of AI research involves testing ideas, running experiments, analysing results, and improving models step by step. These are structured tasks that advanced AI systems can already perform quickly and efficiently.
While top researchers who develop new theories and breakthrough ideas may still be safe, routine research work could become easier for AI to handle. Over time, this could reduce the need for large teams of human researchers.
Engineers and Sales Teams May Be Safer!
In comparison, infrastructure engineers are believed to be less at risk. Building and managing large-scale systems is complex and often unpredictable. Even though AI can help write code, handling real-world problems, fixing errors, and managing large systems still require human judgment and experience.
Sales roles are seen as the hardest for AI to replace. Sales depend heavily on personal relationships, trust, and communication skills. These human qualities are difficult for AI to fully copy, especially when it comes to building long-term client relationships.
What This Means for the Future of Work?
This discussion shows a larger global concern about how AI will change jobs across industries. While AI can improve productivity and reduce repetitive work, it also raises questions about job security and skill relevance.
The key takeaway is that no role is completely immune. As AI continues to improve, workers across fields may need to adapt, learn new skills, and find ways to work alongside intelligent systems rather than compete with them.