No coding skills, no problem: These high-paying jobs in AI welcome everyone

The artificial intelligence (AI) boom is taking many industries by storm, and yours might be next. 

People may be starting to look into jobs in AI now, but it’s not the first time AI has slipped into our lives. In fact, AI has always been around us, even in places we may not realise. 

That Spotify Wrapped that you look forward to at the end of the year? Thank AI for that. Other classic examples of AI include smart assistants like Siri, Bixby, and Alexa, or self-operating robot vacuum cleaners.

Even complex industries like healthcare and marketing are widening their scope to implement AI practices in their day-to-day operations. 

Digital marketers, especially, have increasingly relied on AI and its capabilities to push out advertisements. 47% of marketers now use AI for targeting, real-time content personalisation, email optimisation, conversion calculations, and even live support chat. 

On the consumer end, many are expecting quicker, smoother services from businesses thanks to AI. Many AI-powered platforms are popular with audiences, such as students, who use them to improve workflow. 

To cater to these overwhelming demands, businesses are looking at ways that AI can provide new benefits, such as efficiencies through new automation capabilities, greater ease of use and accessibility, and a wider variety of well-established use cases.

With such exponential growth, there has also been an increasing demand for skilled, experienced professionals in the AI industry. 

Why do we need AI professionals?

It’s safe to say that AI is here to stay. This report predicts that over 97 million people will work within the AI space in 2025, with the market expanding at a CAGR of 38.1% between 2022 to 2030. 

While the world is adjusting rapidly to new automation systems and their use cases, there are still measures that businesses have to take to ensure that their use of AI remains responsible, accurate, and overall ethical.

AI holds plenty of promise and opportunity, but there are those who are rightfully concerned about data misuse, personal privacy, and overall misinformation. For example, AI systems are trained on massive amounts of data, and embedded in that data are societal biases. 

Most businesses adopting AI haven’t taken key steps to ensure their AI is accurate, responsible, and ethical. 

But at the same time, businesses are attempting to apply AI to more far-reaching challenges with greater social and environmental impact, addressing skill or labour shortages or helping to advance environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related initiatives. 

While it is daunting to imagine the potential scaling of AI, rest assured that it can never fully take over certain jobs.

Places where robots won’t take over your jobs – yet 

There are just certain roles that AI can’t take over – at least not yet. 

These two Reddit threads are a good discussion of what jobs in AI people think robots won’t be able to do, such as plumbing. True enough, it’s hard to imagine how ChatGPT and the like could get rid of a clogged toilet at the moment. 

Here are some popular picks:

First-aid responders

Firefighters and paramedics will always be in demand. No AI is able to pull you out of a burning house or assist you during a heart attack.

While they can’t be replaced by automation in emergency situations, there is no doubt that AI can be used to train and improve individuals in the industry. Simulation technology, for example, can provide assistance via remote viewing or create situations that can be replicated for conditional training. 

In difficult situations, drones can be deployed to detect hot zones in a fire, create 3D mapping for navigation, or even sense people in distress through smoke. But ultimately, it’s a human who goes in to save the victims.

AI integration may be important, but replacement is impossible. 

Healthcare

While AI has given healthcare an edge in areas such as administrative workflows, virtual nursing assistants, less invasive procedures, and even overcoming fraud, there are still many human aspects to the industry. 

Take radiology, for example. Many argue that it’s just “pushing buttons” but they don’t realise that there’s a huge human component to it. 

According to a Reddit user, they have to ensure that they’re positioned correctly, wearing the right protective gear, and adjusting the technical factors based on the patient’s size.

In trauma situations, a radiologist would have to know how to adjust the equipment to the specific situation and decipher the readings accurately – something AI has yet to learn to accomplish. 

Artists 

This is a bit controversial, but the fact remains – artists are still outperforming AI.

Sadly, many businesses are laying off artists because they choose to rely on generative art, despite massive backlash from consumers. Even companies like Wacom and Hasbro have used AI-generated imagery in their products and promotional materials, even though their consumer base is entirely made up of artists. 

But the truth is plain as day. Despite platforms such as Midjourney, Sora, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E being able to create generative art, they cannot replicate the depth of creativity and emotional nuance that trained human artists provide.

It doesn’t help either that image generation lifts off work done by human artists.

We’re not saying AI can’t replicate that emotional nuance one day. It may take days, months or even years to get to that point. But as of now, real artists are still in demand, especially by companies eager to avoid copyright lawsuits.

High-paying jobs in AI 

Just like technology, jobs in AI are changing. In 2024, businesses are starting to seek out AI specialists rather than generalists.

The good news is that there are more career opportunities now than ever before. You can take on different roles and responsibilities depending on the industry, position, and interests, even if you have no experience in engineering or coding.

Here are some jobs in AI that you should check out if you’re interested in AI concepts but have minimal knowledge of coding.

AI ethicist

AI ethicists ensure that the business’s AI solutions remain ethical throughout their development and usage. While they may have some technical knowledge, their understanding of the social and moral implications of AI takes precedence. 

The salary range for this role is estimated to be about US$120,000 per year on average. 

Project managers

Project management platforms like Trello, Notion, and Airtable are fairly popular, but they cannot outperform a skilled project manager – especially one knowledgable about AI.

There is a growing need for project managers to oversee AI initiatives. As companies work with more AI systems and products, the complexity of such effort also increases, which paves the way for project managers who are well-versed in the field. 

Project managers working with AI specialists make over US$100,000 annually. 

Social media strategist

Digital marketing is bigger than ever, and it has become stronger with automation in data tracking, evaluation, and content creation. Many businesses are looking for more ways to leverage AI for their marketing, especially for advertisement campaigns. 

A specialist savvy in both social media and AI will help businesses optimise their digital marketing efforts. 

The salary for social media strategists ranges between US$59,000 and US$130,000, according to job postings on Glassdoor. 

AI user experience (UX) designer

Even with AI-driven applications and platforms, the consumer journey is essential.

An AI UX designer will work on the user interface of these platforms, ensuring that they are user-friendly, intuitive and easy to navigate. They should understand how to guide the user on maximising the platform’s capabilities in a useful, enjoyable way.

UX designers make up to US$107,000 a year. 

AI policy and regulation specialist

As AI advances, laws are constantly changing. Countries like the US are already setting up laws that could protect individuals from discriminatory and unethical use of AI, and issues such as privacy and fairness are now at the top of many legislators’ minds. 

AI policy specialists will have knowledge of new or updated laws and AI capabilities. They help draft policies and ensure compliance for the businesses they work with, helping them understand the legal and regulatory landscape.

The average salary will depend on the field or industry. This is still a relatively new field, but generally speaking, compliance officers and regulation specialists earn more working for the federal government or private businesses. 

AI researcher (non-technical)

A non-technical AI researcher focuses specifically on the societal, economic, and philosophical aspects of AI. Their research helps improve efficiency, make predictions, identify potential risks and automate repetitive tastes. 

Researchers can work in various fields, such as healthcare, marketing, agriculture, architecture and more. It’s expected that this work will spread to many other industries in the near future.

AI researchers can earn between US$150,000 to US$250,000 a year. 

AI solutions consultant

A solutions consultant helps businesses create and improve AI components, such as chatbots, virtual assistants or other machine learning-powered solutions. They are skilled in areas such as project execution, strategy development, solution implementation, and more, and they have the ability to oversee an organisation’s entire digital transformation with AI. 

This position seeks consultants from a wide range of specialities, such as evaluation, implementation, strategising, training, and compliance. 

A consultant makes around US$125,000 a year, with top earners making up to US$200,000.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) specialists

Many businesses focus on the search engine marketing (SEM) aspect, with little focus going into something equally as important – search engine optimisation (SEO).

There are many reasons why, but in general, businesses prefer to focus on short-term profitability compared to SEO, which is a long-term game that doesn’t promise results.

But with AI being used liberally for websites, blogs and marketing, there comes a need for talented SEO specialists who know how to identify and navigate AI. 

The salary range for this role ranges averages around US$63,000.

AI customer support associate

Virtual chatbots are all the rage now, but there still has to be someone running them from behind the scenes. AI customer support associates gather and analyse data from chatbots and address complicated issues that cannot be resolved by AI alone.

They will also define and lead customer success-focused fields, overseeing customer engagement and leveraging their knowledge of AI to execute solutions.