Quick check
Guess first, no penalty. Which of these store tasks is hardest to hand to AI?
In Anthropic's study, about 30% of workers have zero exposure, in hands-on jobs like cooks and bartenders. A Microsoft Research study of 200,000 Bing Copilot (Microsoft's AI chat tool) conversations, Working with AI, points the same way. In its AI applicability scores (how much of each job's work people already do with the AI), the lowest-scoring groups "include occupations that require physically working with people, operating machinery, and other manual labor". It's background about jobs in general, not your store.
The work that stays human
The work that stays human is the work where a customer needs a person, or the store needs someone who knows why the numbers are wrong.
| Area | Why it stays human |
|---|---|
| Selling and product advice | You read what the customer needs and match a product to it |
| Complaints and problems | Calming someone down and fixing it face to face is a person's job |
| Online orders in store | Pickups, returns and missing items need someone on the floor |
| Stock accuracy | Only someone on the floor can see that the shelf doesn't match the system |
| Visual merchandising | How a display looks and sells is judged by eye, in the space |
| Store systems go-to person | When the POS (the till system), handhelds (staff scanners) or self-checkout act up, staff and customers need help |
| Shift lead and supervisor | Running a team, a busy Saturday and a safety issue all at once |
The store jobs employers expect to shrink are built on scanning, keying in and counting. Salespersons, the store job they expect to grow, is built on customers and judgment.
Pick your area
I want to be known for: stock accuracy in the household aisles.
Why it stays human: only someone on the floor can see the shelf doesn't match the system.Fill the gaps
Fill the gaps so the line names one area and why it needs you.
My area
I want to be known for: . Why it stays human: .
Try it
Your steps, about 1 minutes
- 1.Pick one area from the table that you'd like to be known for, and write your own line like the one above.1 min