Bill Gates says only 3 jobs will be safe from AI (and it's bad news for creatives)

Bill Gates has made an unsettling premonition about the future of AI – and his words don't hold much joy for most working in the creative sector. Gates hypothesised that in the future all but three job roles could be replaced by machines – and only one of those could be considered creative, coding (spoiler: this is at odds with our view on the future of AI in graphic design).

Although a utopian future would have AI taking over the boring, mundane tasks leaving humans free to pursue creativity, speaking across two different interviews Gates shares that he thinks AI has the ability to do "most things" and only coders, biologists and energy experts will remain safe from AI for now. All of these jobs need a human hand to control and advance the AI, he says (though tell that to the proponents of vibe coding).

However, Gates also asserted that it would be up to humans to decide whether or not to exercise the power of AI across all the areas it is capable of taking over – leaving a glimmer of hope for the idea that humans may one day be free from the mundanity of tasks that can be automated but still find purpose (and work) in creativity.

“There will be some things we reserve for ourselves. But in terms of making things and moving things and growing food, over time those will be basically solved problems," he says.

In fact, he also says in another interview that he thinks humans could work "two or three days a week", which would leave time for non-work pursuits. Whether or not that would come with the same wage and living standards is, of course, yet to be seen.

Given AI can't imagine new concepts that haven't been dreamed up by humans, I doubt it will ever fully take over human creativity. It may remain as a tool to help automate the time consuming parts of creative work or to help with concepting new ideas, however. It's also hard to imagine humans would ever accept AI as the main driver of creativity – that's certainly true so far (as our opinion on the recent AI Volvo advert proves). As Gates alludes to, it's really a case of 'could' vs 'should' in the case of creativity.

For example, as a recent report said, graphic design is a creative career most immediately under threat by AI But it really depends on how humans view that job as to how true that really is. If you view graphic design as moving elements around on a page, or creating work that doesn't feel original or bold then perhaps that's true. But a human gives so much more than a computer when considering the applications of graphic design. Read more about how AI is currently impacting graphic design.

AI can't form a relationship with a brand, or find new ways to help it connect with an audience. It also can't tell stories that have never been told before – all of which are key components of many areas of graphic design work. Sure, you might be able to whip up a logo based on text prompts, or create a leaflet by inputting information – but AI can't help with deeper strategy. That's where humans must centre themselves above the AI.

If you need tools to help you create, see our list of the best laptops for graphic design.