USA 
United Kingdom
Microsoft has identified 40 job roles that are most threatened by AI, raising fresh concerns over which careers may soon be disrupted or phased out altogether.
The list, which includes sales reps, interpreters, political scientists, and journalists, has gone viral as workers in traditional knowledge roles grapple with hiring freezes, restructures, and rapid automation.
While Microsoft says high applicability doesn’t automatically mean those roles will be killed by AI, employers have been putting a pause on hiring and cutting roles to make way for enhanced productivity.
As companies publicly announce AI-driven workforce reductions, workers are scrambling to understand which careers might soon disappear and be outsourced to technology.
Overall, the jobs most exposed are ones that involve knowledge work, like people doing computer, math, or administrative work in an office, the research says. Sales jobs are also high on the list, since they often involve sharing and explaining information.
The Microsoft list arrives as IBM confirms it has frozen thousands of roles it expects AI to take over in the next five years. Jobseekers in the UK, according to Indeed, face the toughest market since 2018 as employers use AI to reduce cost and delay hiring.
Degrees no longer shield against automation
The study also challenges long-held beliefs about education offering job security.
“In terms of education requirements, we find higher AI applicability for occupations requiring a Bachelor’s degree than occupations with lower requirements,” said the researh, which studied 200,000 real-world conversations of Copilot users and cross-compared the AI’s performance with occupational data.
Many of the jobs with a high chance of shortly being upended by AI, like political scientists, journalists, and management analysts, are ones that typically require a four-year degree to land a job.
On the flip side, there are some career paths with low AI exposure that are growing in demand. The home health and personal care aid industry, for example, is expected to create the greatest number of new jobs over the next decade, according to the US Bureau of Labor.
Roles not overly affected by AI
Microsoft researcher Kiran Tomlinson told Fortune the study was not about predicting job loss. “Our research shows that AI supports many tasks, particularly those involving research, writing, and communication, but does not indicate it can fully perform any single occupation. As AI adoption accelerates, it’s important that we continue to study and better understand its societal and economic impact,” Tomlinson says.
Not all roles are exposed. There's good news for dredge operators, bridge and lock tenders, and floor sanders, which are among the jobs named with virtually no generative AI crossover, due to their hands-on nature.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently said at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference that “every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable. You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.”
Top 10 occupations least affected by AI
Dredge Operators
Bridge and Lock Tenders
Water Treatment Plant and System Operators
Foundry Mold and Coremakers
Rail-Track Laying and Maintenance Equipment Operators
Pile Driver Operators
Floor Sanders and Finishers
Orderlies
Motorboat Operators
Logging Equipment Operators
Top 40 occupations most affected by AI
Interpreters and Translators
Historians
Passenger Attendants
Sales Representatives of Services
Writers and Authors
Customer Service Representatives
CNC Tool Programmers
Telephone Operators
Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
Broadcast Announcers and Radio DJs
Brokerage Clerks
Farm and Home Management Educators
Telemarketers
Concierges
Political Scientists
News Analysts, Reporters, Journalists
Mathematicians
Technical Writers
Proofreaders and Copy Markers
Hosts and Hostesses
Editors
Business Teachers, Post-secondary
Public Relations Specialists
Demonstrators and Product Promoters
Advertising Sales Agents
New Accounts Clerks
Statistical Assistants
Counter and Rental Clerks
Data Scientists
Personal Financial Advisors
Archivists
Economics Teachers, Post-secondary
Web Developers
Management Analysts
Geographers
Models
Market Research Analysts
Public Safety Telecommunicators
Switchboard Operators
Library Science Teachers, Post-secondary
