Another Career Field Taken over by Artificial Intelligence

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As for the original topic, it does sound like the sort of job where would have always expected more automation to be a threat, though maybe a surprise it's not just cut back the numbers but I assume that means whoever was monitoring it before would still be doing so for AI too.

So my experiences are an opinion but yours aren't, nice double standards. Receiving feedback that I gave good detailed thoughtful answers, 'aced' all their tests but they didn't like the way I speak isn't social aspects being put above STEM aspects? It's also so vague, and this was before I knew about ASD, so could be non verbals, tone, etc. It also has knock on effect that rejection is seen as laziness so any attempt over time is harder than the one before it. It's not a STEM issue specifically, its a society issue and STEM is part of that. This has happened a significant amount of times, even if 70-75% of my applications or attempts would be my own failures, I can handle and learn from them, but trying to not be myself would go against most interview advice if I even could manage to. Whether knowing about my likely ASD now makes any difference, well the pandemic isn't exactly making that easy to test.

No, kid ... my experiences merely belie your opinions that your experiences are universal facts, that's all.  Just because you have experienced failure after failure does not mean that the successes anyone else experience are invalid.  In fact, I would suggest that you look a little closer to yourself to determine why you fail so often, and why people with similar education and skill-sets succeed.

^ Which isn't exactly refuting my point of being rejected for my at the time unknown ASD, due to it affecting how I interact with others. So most likely being seen as weird or whatever just like your co-worker experiences except for me it's happening at point of entry. Given the types of feedback I've received from some rejections and that very few (16% 2016 survey) on the spectrum are allowed full time work. Why wouldn't I think that the social aspect of how ASD presents itself is either equal or greater to actual abilities or background with STEM in most application decisions?

While I understand the situation, I also see a solution.

I was about your age when I came to the same realization -- social behavior is an important factor in career success.  While not all-important, and while less important in some companies than others, it is important.  So I started observing people who had risen up in the corporate structure, and they fell into three broad and basic categories: Those with exceptional social skills, those with exceptional technical skills, and those who could act "well enough" in the other two categories to keep their jobs.  I had already earned my MSEE, so I applied my exceptional technical skills to "troubleshooting" my lousy social skills.  Can you guess what I found out?

It took a few years to figure things out and implement my new-found understanding, but the basic idea is this: "If you can't say something nice, then just STFU!" (Captain Obvious fans take note).  Really.  No off-color jokes, no swearing, no snarky comments, no sly innuendos regarding sexual anatomy, and no complaining.  Just smiles and polite, superficial responses no matter how stupid the question or person might be.

An overtly nice demeanor will throw off the attention of most people looking for someone to blame, while an overtly grouchy, cranky person is usually the first to be blamed when the company's business takes a downturn, and they are usually the first to be "downsized", as well.

So, at your age (half of my lifetime ago), I determined that at least pretending to be a nice guy (in person, at least) was immeasurably more important than letting everyone know what my Complaint Of The Day might be.

Zagreb and Evans was actually right on the mark over 50 years ago! (In the year 2525...)

How would you know?  We still have 505 years to go...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/09/microsofts-robot-journalist-confused-by-mixed-race-little-mix-singers

I'd say promising start, but people also make mistakes like that and too early to compare the frequency.

Though speaking of AI, I'm sure that it also deals with applications for some companies, which will likely discriminate against anyone not fitting the social norms, I'm sure things like that haven't exactly helped me and others.

Strange, isn't it ... how little the entiheads seem to appreciate us tech-minded aspies until something breaks down.  Then they either treat us like high priests and hover over us like we're performing miracles before their eyes, or they treat us like emergency first-responders and supplicate us with smiles, kind words, and encouragement.

Most people generally take people for granted until they lose whatever they were gaining from them , not just with aspies. We all take things for granted and when they are no longer available we suddenly realise how much they contributed to our lives, like having a neighbourhood supermarket, walking there and freely mingling with people. Suddenly we can't do the simplest things because of Corona. My tip is we should all let everyone who is important to us know it, people need it, it is no different at the work place. Let's make the world nice again.

This started out as a light hearted thread and quickly got tangled up into a struggle of wills. I would hate to think what might have happened if the subject was dire.

IMHO AI will only eat the tedious workload and do a poor job at that. How many robocalls have I endured. They sound human but its all a recording. If I interrupt, AI doesn't know how to respond. It suffers a meltdown. It will always have glitches and linear thought patterns. It lacks creativity. And cannot repair itself.