Lucky You! AI Won’t Take These Jobs from You… For Now

The current AI revolution is changing jobs — not sometime in the future, but right now. Microsoft conducted a study to investigate the experiences of individuals in various professions. Spoiler alert: Most of us won’t have to look for a new job tomorrow.

Microsoft: These jobs are most affected by automation

What exactly did Microsoft do? Over 200,000 anonymized conversations that Americans had with Co-pilot were examined. Based on these conversations, a very different picture emerged, detailing how labor markets are already undergoing significant changes. We already see major changes in jobs that involve conveying information and communication. In the manual sector, on the other hand, the impact still seems to be very manageable.

Results were used to determine a score that depicts the degree of automation. Do understand this is not about giving individual professions an expiry date. Rather, it shows the extent to which an occupation already involves artificial intelligence.

Before we classify the figures, let’s examine the tables first. You can see the 40 occupations that showcase the highest degree of automation, followed by an overview of jobs with the lowest values:

Jobs with the highest AI applicability score

Rank	Job title	Score	Employees (USA)
1	Translators and interpreters	0.49	51,560
2	Historians	0.48	3,040
3	Passenger attendants	0.47	20,190
4	Sales representatives of services	0.46	1,142,020
5	Writers and authors	0.45	49,450
6	Customer service representatives	0.44	2,858,710
7	CNC tool programmers	0.44	28,030
8	Telephone operators	0.42	4,600
9	Ticket agents and travel clerks	0.41	119,270
10	Broadcast announcers and radio DJs	0.41	25,070
11	Brokerage Clerks	0.41	48,060
12	Farm and home management educators	0.41	8,110
13	Telemarketers	0.40	81,580
14	Concierges	0.40	41,020
15	Political scientists	0.39	5,580
16	News analysts, reporters, journalists	0.39	45,020
17	Mathematicians	0.39	2,220
18	Technical writers	0.38	47,970
19	Proofreaders and copy markers	0.38	5,490
20	Hosts and hostesses	0.37	425,020
21	Editors	0.37	95,700
22	Postsecondary business teachers	0.37	82,980
23	PR specialists	0.36	275,550
24	Demonstrators and product promoters	0.36	50,790
25	New accounts clerks	0.36	108,100
26	Customer advisor for new customers	0.36	41,180
27	Statistical assistants	0.36	7,200
28	Counter and rental clerks	0.36	390,300
29	Data scientists	0.36	192,710
30	Personal financial advisors	0.35	272,190
31	Archivists	0.35	7,150
32	Postsecondary economics teachers	0.35	12,210
33	Web developers	0.35	85,350
34	Management analysts	0.35	838,140
35	Geographers	0.35	1,460
36	Models	0.35	3,090
37	Market research analysts	0.35	846,370
38	Public safety telecommunicators	0.35	97,820
39	Switchboard operators	0.35	43,830
40	Postsecondary library science teachers	0.34	4,220

And here are the professions that currently seem to be the least suitable for AI:

Jobs with the lowest AI applicability score

Rank	Job title	Score	Employees (USA)
1	Dredge operators	0.00	340
2	Bridge and lock tenders	0.00	3,460
3	Water treatment plant and system operators	0.00	120,710
4	Foundry mold and coremakers	0.00	2,700
5	Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators	0.00	4,010
6	Pile drivers	0.00	3,010
7	Floor sanders and finishers	0.00	4,510
8	Orderlies	0.01	48,710
9	Motorboat operators	0.01	2,710
10	Logging equipment operators	0.01	23,720
11	Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators	0.01	43,080
12	Maids and housekeeping cleaners	0.01	836,230
13	Roustabouts (oil and gas)	0.01	43,880
14	Roofers	0.01	135,140
15	Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators	0.01	4,400
16	Helpers–roofers	0.01	4,540
17	Tire builders	0,01	20,660
18	Surgical assistants	0.01	18,780
19	Massage therapists	0.01	92,650
20	Ophthalmic medical technicians	0.01	73,390
21	Industrial truck and tractor operators	0.01	778,920
22	Supervisors of firefighters	0.01	81,120
23	Cement masons and concrete finishers	0.01	203,560
24	Dishwashers	0.02	463,940
25	Machine feeders and offbearers	0.02	44,500
26	Packaging and filling machine operators	0.02	371,600
27	Medical equipment preparers	0.02	66,790
28	Highway maintenance workers	0.02	150,860
29	Production assistants	0.02	181,810
30	Prosthodontists	0.02	570
31	Tire repairers and changers	0.02	101,520
32	Ship engineers	0.03	8,860
33	Automotive glass installers and repairers	0.03	16,890
34	Oral and maxillofacial surgeons	0.03	4,160
35	Plant and system operators (all other)	0.03	15,370
36	Embalmers	0.03	3,380
37	Helpers–painters, plasterers, and similar	0.03	7,700
38	Hazardous materials removal workers	0.03	49,960
39	Nursing assistants	0.03	1,351,760
40	Phlebotomists	0.03	137,080

What does the study say, and what does it explicitly remain silent on?

I would like to clarify that the figures collected by Microsoft are not used to make a definitive statement about whether a profession is at risk. If you find your profession in the list with a high score, this simply means this profession is already benefiting greatly from the use of artificial intelligence. The score measures how often AI is used to perform certain tasks. Translators and journalists can already use AI to a much greater extent than in many other professions.

Conversely, people in skilled trades have to live with the fact that they can rely on far less AI support. So, if you’re a dredge operator or an orderly, you don’t need to worry too much about artificial intelligence taking over your job for the time being, in both a good and a bad sense.

Use of AI ≠ loss of jobs

It would be misleading to infer job losses from this, which is why you should take a positive view of the study. Do you make a living from sales? If so, you can use AI to get rid of unpleasant, repetitive work and focus more on the exciting, creative aspects.

The study even explicitly warned against drawing short-sighted conclusions. A high score does not mean an AI can reproduce your job 1:1, but only where certain areas of your job profile can be performed by an artificial intelligence. Don’t underestimate the importance of the organizational context in your company or human judgment.

That said, don’t forget that only Co-pilot formed this basis — a single tool from a sea of LLMs (Large Language Models). The result is a very general picture of the situation, but certainly not a representative one.

AI is your friend

The study also noted that 40 percent of the tasks performed by AI are completely different from what the respective users intended to achieve. This confirms AI is not taking over your job, but rather, acting as an assistant in a supportive role.

Of course, this does not discount the fact that you should also be willing to accept such external help. If you refuse to accept help from AI, your job may be at stake after all. However, you would not be replaced by an AI, but by a human who is willing to work alongside artificial intelligence.