Is AI Really Coming for Your Job?

Daniel Rhymer says young engineers see opportunity as well as risk in the rise of AI

Daniel Rhymer is vice-chair of IChemE's National Early Careers Group (UK and Ireland)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is no longer a future consideration for chemical engineers – it is already becoming embedded in how many students and early-career professionals study, research and work. Yet despite its growing use, uncertainty remains over what AI means for the profession and whether it will fundamentally reshape traditional career paths.

At a recent National Early Careers Group-led panel discussion during ChemEngDayUK&I, nearly two-thirds of attendees said they felt threatened by AI.

The result surprised me and reflects growing uncertainty around how rapidly the technology is evolving and what it could mean for graduate roles and the wider workforce.

I use AI almost every day. My research heavily relies on it as a process-optimisation tool. Like most of our group’s members, I’ve also become used to using AI for more routine tasks. Aiding coding, troubleshooting simulations or proofreading draft articles are just a few examples. However, regardless of the task, one thing remains consistent whenever I use AI: I still need to apply chemical engineering judgement to validate the output.

That distinction formed the core of much of the panel discussion. Audience concerns focused largely on workforce streamlining and whether increasingly capable AI systems could reduce the number of entry-level engineering roles. However, panellists were less convinced that AI could replace engineers outright.

Will Ryden, a graduate engineer at Mott MacDonald Bentley, argued AI was “still a long way off from replacing humans”, while University of Birmingham assistant professor Theodoros Papalas described AI as “just a tool” that requires supervision. “It still needs someone real who understands how to interpret and assess the results,” he added.

The changing engineering skillset