Can you? Also yes. Except the one your employer gets duped by.
Should you ignore the technological revolution that is Machine Learning Algorithms in general? No, not if you're willing to use other tech anyway despite its negative impact on privacy.
Can you? Also probably no, not if you want to eat.
Has AI affected my job? No, not yet. Well, not directly, although now every vendor uses AI to deal with customer service. If I worked at a larger company in my field, they'd probably include AI somewhere in the process.
My thoughts on it all: let's use the correct descriptor, Machine Learning Algorithms, since "AI" is just a marketing term to generate hype. I like MLAs, they're a neat tool and cool toy. It's also possible to own and run your own on your own PC in the privacy of your own home. Do that. Run the models, generate conrent, learn how to use the tool, learn the CS and math theory behind it, understand it, have fun. Be a scientist, learn by doing, get your hands dirty, understand that which you fear. Oftentimes our fears really just boil down to our lack of understanding.
We're in a painful growth stage rn. Operators are stillbtesting boundaries, and those of us affected are trying tonfind ways to reassert those boundaries. Whether it's enhanced tracking algorithms, harvesting data for training, or stealing intellectual property, it's all boundary testing. Give it a few years, and there will be more compromise and it will seem more mundane to see MLAs in the wild. So it's best to make peace with them now than to be that boomer that still refuses to learn how to use the internet.
Or if you prefer the privacy-oriented incentives: it's called "Adversarial Machine Learning" and it's cool as fuck. Sometimes it's about figuring out how to craft inputs to exploit a MLA, other times it using your own MLA to fuck with someone else's.
The point is: you don't learn anything by sitting around pontificating, you learn by engaging with things. If you want to learn about me or the users of c/Privacy, this is a great way. If you want to have your fears validated, this is a great way. If you want to grow as a person, lead your best life, and not be ruled by fear, then the only way is to learn about things you don't already understand even if—no—especially if it's things that are used to do evil.