If you're happy coasting at your job, you might be in trouble from AI

• Many US workers are "quiet quitting" and posting about their "lazy girl jobs."
• Some of them may have to work harder to keep up when AI technologies enter their workplaces.

If you've gotten used to "quiet quitting" and coasting at your job over the last year, you might be in for a rude awakening. That's because AI is coming to workplaces across the country.

Take April, a 38-year-old marketing and communications professional based in Virginia. She's among the many women who have posted about their "lazy girl jobs" — low-stress jobs that still pay well — on TikTok over the last few months. She told Insider she works 20 to 25 hours per week.

"I mainly copy and paste information from my templates and make it unique to a particular client or brand I'm working with," she said. "The job tasks usually require little effort."

In recent months, however, April said generative AI technologies are beginning to have a larger impact on her industry, and she's concerned that individuals and businesses will begin turning to AI for copywriting and brand storytelling — tasks where she'd like to think her human touch still adds value.

AI's most immediate impact on her job: She's picked up her intensity at work and knows she may have to say goodbye to the "lazy girl" nature of her job forever.

"The way that I have been approaching tasks recently has changed tremendously with the emergence of AI becoming widespread," she said. "I've been constantly sharpening my skills to stay ahead of the curve."

In the years to come, it's unlikely that April will be the only "lazy girl worker" who is forced to adapt due to AI. Across the US, businesses are beginning to experiment with generative AI technologies like ChatGPT. 300 million full-time jobs across the globe could be disrupted — not necessarily replaced — by AI, Goldman Sachs forecasted in March.

While this tech could be used to make many workers more productive in the years ahead — and even create jobs — this is unlikely to be the story everywhere. Some white-collar workers in industries ranging from tech to finance to media could find themselves feeling less valuable as AI chips away at their work tasks. Others could see newcomers who are adept with these technologies quickly catch up to and surpass them in terms of work quality and output.

Whether it's competing against AI or co-workers utilizing it, many jobs could get more competitive in the years ahead.

"You will not be replaced by AI but by someone who knows what to do with AI," Oded Netzer, a Columbia Business School professor, previously told Insider.

Oxford economist Carl Benedikt Frey compared the AI boom to the introduction of ride-hailing companies like Uber, which resulted in more drivers and increased competition.

"In my view, it's less about automation," he told Insider. "It's more about democratization and competition, potentially leading to lower wages for people in some of these professions."

Workers can adapt by utilizing AI and focusing on what it can't do as well as humans

Kierstin Carter, 21, works as a litigation paralegal in Austin, Texas. She told Insider that she considers her role to be a lazy girl job because her tasks are very predictable and manageable.

"I come in at about 7 a.m., read and answer emails, file documents, draft documents, answer phone calls, and do all this while watching my show on my desktop until about 6 p.m.," she told Insider.

While paralegals are among the roles experts say AI could disrupt, Carter said that she's confident her ability to manage client relationships will help her retain an edge over these technologies.

"In the legal field you are constantly communicating with clients and clients' kind look to you for not only help with their cases but also for emotional support," she said, adding. "I think that is something AI will never be able to replace — relationships with clients."

April, meanwhile, said she's also confident she'll be able to navigate the changes AI brings, adding that these technologies have boosted her productivity at some tasks.

"Now I have to compete with artificial intelligence," she said. "The AI concerns don't make me want to switch to an easier job, but adjust the way I do things currently. I know I'll be having to work harder to keep up with the rapid changes."