As the world of technology advances into the 21st century, the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on the workforce has practically spread like wildfire in every corner of the planet. With the powerful precision of AI evolving at an unprecedented pace, many are left wondering if AI will eat their jobs like a monstrous tech machine.
CNN is reporting Bill Gates is sounding the alarm. “The question is, has it come so fast that you don’t have time to adjust to it?” Gates told a CNN reporter during an interview.
Microsoft officials insist that AI is drastically changing the landscape of our existence. Approximately 40% of Americans say they use generative AI at home or business. According to Microsoft representatives, the study shows that technology is “outpacing the early diffusion of the personal computer and the internet.”
When mega-size companies like Amazon publicly announced AI-driven workforce reductions, workers are scrambling to understand which careers might soon disappear and be outsourced to technology, Fortune Magazine reported.
Adding Trillions to America’s Economy; McKinsey Institute
McKinsey research estimates that gen AI could add to the economy between:
$2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion annually while increasing the impact of all artificial intelligence by 15 to 40 percent.
In the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) space, new gen AI use cases are expected to unleash between $380 billion and $690 billion in impact—$60 billion to $100 billion in telecommunications, $80 billion to $130 billion in media, and about $240 billion to $460 billion in high tech.
In fact, it seems possible that within the next three years, anything not connected to AI will be considered obsolete or ineffective.The higher a job’s AI applicability score, the more likely it is to be impacted by AI. Traditional high-paying jobs that require a degree are also on the chopping block.
200,000 Copilot Users Studied
As part of their study, researchers analyzed 200,000 anonymized user conversations using Microsoft Copilot, a generative AI system that is available to the public. And the following results were: workers most commonly employ AI to help them with information collection and writing. AI is most frequently used in information and support, teaching, writing, and advising.Researchers looked at the extent to which AI is being used to complete work tasks in each occupation and how many of those tasks AI is able to complete successfully to arrive at an “AI applicability score” for each job.
According to Microsoft:
“This score captures if there is nontrivial AI usage that successfully completes activities corresponding to significant portions of an occupation’s tasks.”
There are jobs that AI probably won’t disturb, for example: Dredge operators; bridge and lock tenders; and water treatment plant and system operators are among the jobs without AI exposure due to physical hands on deck.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a CNN TV interview article that AI will affect every job in some way.
“Every job will be affected, and immediately. It is unquestionable,” Huang said at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference in May. “You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, but you’re going to lose your job to someone who uses AI.”
Microsoft found that, in general, the highest AI applicability scores went to jobs involving knowledge work (such as those in the computer, mathematical, and office and administrative support fields) or providing and communicating information (such as sales jobs).
Jobs with Highest AI Applicability Scores
| Job | AI applicability score | #jobs |
| Interpreters and translators | 49% | 51,560 |
| Historians | 48% | 3,040 |
| Passenger attendants | 47% | 20,190 |
| Sales representatives of services | 46% | 1,142,020 |
| Writers and authors | 45% | 49,450 |
| Customer service representatives | 44% | 2,858,710 |
| CNC tool programmers | 44% | 28,030 |
| Telephone operators | 42% | 4,600 |
| Ticket agents and travel clerks | 41% | 119,270 |
| Broadcast announcers and radio DJs | 41% | 25,070 |
| Brokerage clerks | 41% | 48,060 |
| Farm and home management educators | 41% | 8,110 |
| Telemarketers | 40% | 81,580 |
| Concierges | 40% | 41,020 |
| Political scientists | 39% | 5,580 |
| News analysts, reporters and journalists | 39% | 45,020 |
| Mathematicians | 39% | 2,220 |
| Technical writers | 38% | 47,970 |
| Proofreaders and copy markers | 38% | 5,490 |
| Hosts and hostesses | 37% | 425,020 |
| Editors | 37% | 95,700 |
| Postsecondary business teachers | 37% | 82,980 |
| Public relations specialists | 36% | 275,550 |
| Demonstrators and product promoters | 36% | 50,790 |
| Advertising sales agents | 36% | 108,100 |
| New accounts clerks | 36% | 41,180 |
| Statistical assistants | 36% | 7,200 |
| Counter and rental clerks | 36% | 390,300 |
| Data scientists | 36% | 192,710 |
| Personal financial advisors | 35% | 272,190 |
| Archivists | 35% | 7,150 |
| Postsecondary economics teachers | 35% | 12,210 |
| Web developers | 35% | 85,350 |
| Management analysts | 35% | 838,140 |
| Geographers | 35% | 1,460 |
| Models | 35% | 3,090 |
| Market research analysts | 35% | 846,370 |
| Public safety telecommunicators | 35% | 97,820 |
| Switchboard operators | 35% | 43,830 |
| Postsecondary library science teachers | 34% | 4,220 |
The Least Vulnerable Jobs
Before you panic that AI might soon kill your career, it’s important to note that Microsoft says its analysis does not suggest that AI is performing all the work activities of any single occupation. The report states:
“…the overlap between AI capabilities and various occupations is very uneven. There are definitely some occupations for which many — perhaps even most — work activities have some overlap with demonstrated AI capabilities. But even when there is overlap, the task completion rate is not 100% and the scope of impact is usually moderate.”
Jobs with Lowest AI Applicability Scores
| Job | AI applicability score | #jobs | |
| Phlebotomists | 3% | 137,080 | |
| Nursing assistants | 3% | 1,351,760 | |
| Hazardous materials removal workers | 3% | 49,960 | |
| Helpers of painters, plasterers and stucco masons | 3% | 7,700 | |
| Embalmers | 3% | 3,380 | |
| Plant and system operators, all other | 3% | 15,370 | |
| Oral and maxillofacial surgeons | 3% | 4,160 | |
| Automotive glass installers and repairers | 3% | 16,890 | |
| Ship engineers | 3% | 8,860 | |
| Tire repairers and changers | 2% | 101,520 | |
| Prosthodontists | 2% | 570 | |
| Helpers of production workers | 2% | 181,810 | |
| Highway maintenance workers | 2% | 150,860 | |
| Medical equipment preparers | 2% | 66,790 | |
| Packaging and filling machine operators | 2% | 371,600 | |
| Machine feeders and offbearers | 2% | 44,500 | |
| Dishwashers | 2% | 463,940 | |
| Cement masons and concrete finishers | 1% | 203,560 | |
| Supervisors of firefighters | 1% | 84,120 | |
| Industrial truck and tractor operators | 1% | 778,920 | |
| Ophthalmic medical technicians | 1% | 73,390 | |
| Massage therapists | 1% | 92,650 | |
| Surgical assistants | 1% | 18,780 | |
| Tire builders | 1% | 20,660 | |
| Helpers of roofers | 1% | 4,540 | |
| Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators | 1% | 4,400 | |
| Roofers | 1% | 135,140 | |
| Oil and gas roustabouts | 1% | 43,830 | |
| Maids and housekeeping cleaners | 1% | 836,230 | |
| Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators | 1% | 43,080 | |
| Logging equipment operators | 1% | 23,720 | |
| Motorboat operators | 0% | 2,710 | |
| Orderlies | 0% | 48,710 | |
| Floor sanders and finishers | 0% | 5,070 | |
| Pile driver operators | 0% | 3,010 | |
| Rail-track laying and maintenance equipment operators | 0% | 18,770 | |
| Foundry mold and coremakers | 0% | 11,780 | |
| Water treatment plant and system operators | 0% | 120,710 | |
| Bridge and lock tenders | 0% | 3,460 | |
| Dredge operators | 0% | 940 |
Microsoft researchers failed to find a significant link between AI applicability scores and educational requirements for jobs. They said AI impacts occupations that require a bachelor’s degree only “slightly more” than jobs that require less education.
NewsBlaze Senior Reporter Clarence Walker can be reached at houstonnewstoday@yahoo.com
Sources used for NewsBlaze story: Fortune Magazine, McKinsey Institute, CNN, Microsoft Report, and Money Talk News.
