A pilot? Pastry chef? Baseball player? Manga artist?
Here in Italy, unique new job types are popping up all the time. There are more and more in the IT and AI fields, so it’s likely that there are kids today who simply say that they want to work with AI in the future. But beyond IT and AI, I recently learned about some jobs that make you wonder how they even exist. They were fascinating and a bit hard to believe, but when I looked them up, they were occupations officially listed with the tax office—making things even more interesting. For example:
Professional ham sniffer: A person skilled at determining the quality of cured ham by smell
I know a French person who is a perfumer (fragrance maker) in Paris, which sounded to me like such an elegant, refined occupation—and even though being an Italian ham sniffer must require the same level of olfactory sophistication, to me it reflects the national character of Italy in a humorous way.
Dog food taster: People actually taste-test gourmet dog food!
When I see the dogs licking their lips in satisfaction during dog food commercials or advertisements, I sometimes wonder if the food actually tastes good, or if I’d be disappointed if I tried it. But if there are actually professional human dog food tasters out there, it has to be quite good, right?
Uninhabited island patrollers: This is lonely work…
Depending on the type of island, I guess this would mean working in a completely deserted place.
Mattress tester: Do they hire them based on whether they snore a lot?!
There seem to be more mattress stores around these days, so I guess that means more professional sleepers? So the mattresses on display where the most people are getting a good night’s sleep are the ones to buy, I guess.
Bean counter: This is actually a registered occupation!
If you really think about it, it would require some tenacity to stay focused depending on how many beans there were—so I guess it makes sense to recognize this as a profession.
Wedding dove trainer: They actually release the doves.
Every once in a while in my work, I’ll come across a wedding that involves a display of flying doves. I’m sure anyone can just open the cage door and let them fly out, but I hear that this performance involves a lot of preparation and training behind the scenes—that it takes months, for example, to train them to go back to their nesting area from several (or several dozen) kilometers away. It’s also important to get the timing of their flight just right during the ceremony, requiring close communication with the doves on the big day. It’s got to be a difficult job. I seem to remember that not all of the doves want to fly sometimes.
Whistler: Unfortunately, this profession is not officially registered.
There are, however, musicians who specialize in whistling. One was even hired for a movie soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, for example. My whistling is not only quiet, it’s off-key and has a range of less than an octave—so I don’t have what it takes to be a professional.
There are also new professions that reflect the times and how AI is becoming part of our lives.
Prompt engineer: Someone who is good at conversing with ChatGPT
AI ethics consultant: Teaches AI the difference between right and wrong
Both professions seem really Italian, and no matter what kind of money they make, they can at least take pride in the fact that they are recognized as professionals.
