8 Careers AI May Replace and 8 It Likely Won't (For Now)

The revolutionary launch of has sparked widespread discussion — and concern — about how generative AI will impact the workforce. While new technologies often disrupt the job market, there’s something uniquely unsettling about and other tools like Google Bard and Microsoft Bing AI.

Generative AI is a cutting-edge form of artificial intelligence that employs algorithms to create original content, such as text, images, software code, Excel formulas, and even music, all from a simple text input. Tools like have been 'trained' on vast datasets and can generate human-quality outputs in mere seconds.

So, the real question is: Could AI take over your job?

The Effect of AI on the Job Market

A 2023 report by Goldman Sachs suggests that the labor markets in both the United States and Europe could experience "substantial disruption" if generative AI meets expectations. Up to a quarter of current jobs might be fully replaced by AI, with two-thirds of all jobs — about 300 million positions — affected by AI automation in varying degrees.

The silver lining is that job market shifts tend to happen gradually, says Tom Davenport, a professor of IT and management at Babson College in Massachusetts and the author of several best-selling books on AI in the workplace, including "All in on AI: How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial Intelligence."

"Generally, these AI tools will gradually erode certain aspects of jobs by automating specific tasks," says Davenport. "Even if those tasks are fully automated, there will still be a need for humans to be involved in the process."

However, some jobs may disappear entirely, and possibly sooner than you expect, according to Martin Ford, futurist and author of "Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything."

"Here's a question for you: Do you have a job where someone could review everything you've done and figure out how to do it themselves?" asks Martin. "If your answer is yes, then your job might be at risk."

The Top 8 Jobs Most Vulnerable to AI

The rise of generative AI has shifted automation's focus from blue-collar workers to white-collar employees.

"To automate a knowledge-based job, you don't need robots or pricey equipment," says Ford. "All it takes is software and an algorithm. That's exactly what has highlighted."

We've compiled a list (in no particular order) of the eight professions that AI experts believe are most at risk of being overtaken by AI automation, and eight others that are much more challenging for machines to replace — at least for now...

1. Digital Marketers

There's an entire sector focused on promoting products and services through blog posts, videos, and social media updates. Digital marketers write articles, create videos, and manage social media for both big businesses and small enterprises. However, this very type of targeted content is exactly what generative AI excels at creating.

Ford is straightforward: "Content marketers are at risk."

Davenport suggests that the marketers most at risk are those focused on producing "low-quality content" that doesn't require much creativity. "By nature, AI can only generate variations of existing content," says Davenport. "If you're seeking something truly original, you'll need a human to step in."

2. Sports Reporters

Certain forms of journalism are already being replaced by AI. Sports reporting, for example, is particularly easy to automate. An algorithm can analyze a box score from a baseball or basketball game — identifying who scored, when they did, and how the winning team gained the lead — and quickly generate a 500-word article that narrates a clear and accurate story.

The same applies to certain financial journalism, such as quarterly earnings reports and other business-related data. Since 2014, The Associated Press has collaborated with an AI platform called Automated Insights to produce thousands of earnings report articles each year, all without human involvement. This collaboration has allowed business journalists to spend 20 percent more time on in-depth reporting.

In 2018, the same AI platform automated The AP's coverage of NCAA basketball. Automated news was also used for election results and live updates during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as for creating "explainer" articles, though some AI-generated pieces have been found to contain errors.

"Anyone whose job involves sitting in front of a computer and performing repetitive, predictable tasks — even if those tasks involve skilled writing — is highly vulnerable to automation," says Ford.

3. Visual Artists

If you believe that all forms of creative and artistic work are safe from automation, you haven't encountered DALL-E 2 from OpenAI, the creator of . DALL-E 2 generates images in much the same way generates text. Simply provide a prompt — like "design a business card for a flower shop called Daisy Mae's" — and DALL-E 2 will instantly produce a variety of business card designs. One professional graphic designer described the results as "insane" (in both a good and scary way).

Graphic designers can view applications like DALL-E 2 in two ways: as a serious threat that could replace human designers, or as a powerful tool to quickly generate visual concepts that can then be refined by human creativity.

Indeed, generative AI will replace graphic artists who focus on quick and basic designs, but there will always be demand for more sophisticated and high-quality work.

Just look at Jason Allen, a Colorado video game designer who won a "digitally manipulated photography" competition using an AI image generator called Midjourney. Allen didn't just enter a prompt; he dedicated 80 hours to creating over 900 versions of his digital masterpiece. Although his victory sparked backlash online for allegedly "cheating," Allen told The Washington Post that the AI "is just a tool, like a paintbrush. Without the artist, there’s no creative spark."

4. Data Scientists

In today’s digital age, businesses and organizations are overwhelmed with data: sales figures, demographic details, climate data, and more. It's up to data analysts to sift through this ocean of information, uncover hidden patterns, and provide actionable insights.

Much of this work isn't glamorous. A significant part of a data analyst's role involves choosing fields, applying filters, and creating the right spreadsheet formulas to analyze the data. The upside (and downside) is that AI can now handle a lot of this repetitive, time-consuming work.

As with many other professions, high-level analysis and decision-making will remain in demand, according to Davenport. However, lower-level tasks like financial modeling in investment banking and private equity could be largely handled by AI.

5. Software Developers and Coders

Most experts agree that generative AI will greatly benefit software developers. With tools like Copilot, programmers no longer need to manually write every line of code. Simply input a prompt, and the algorithm can generate efficient, high-quality code in various programming languages.

A study from Microsoft and MIT found that developers using Copilot were able to write programs 56 percent faster than their traditional counterparts. In an industry already reeling from mass layoffs, many coders are understandably worried that entry-level programming positions may be replaced by AI.

For those developers who remain in their roles, many will transition into positions as "prompt engineers", specialists in crafting the best prompts for AI-driven coding applications.

6. Lawyers

"AI will significantly affect the legal profession," says Ford. "Legal software, including AI, is already revolutionizing the discovery process by identifying relevant documents for cases." Additionally, AI is taking over many tasks related to contract creation and analysis.

It’s primarily the repetitive, time-consuming legal tasks that will be automated first, reducing the demand for entry-level lawyers. However, critics believe that AI won't replace most of a lawyer's work. Instead, it will enable lawyers to focus on more strategic thinking while minimizing routine tasks. (That said, lawyers using should verify its case references, as one attorney learned the hard way.)

On the upside, automated legal services may provide essential support to low-income individuals, with 86 percent unable to afford legal representation in civil matters, according to the American Bar Association.

7. Warehouse Workers

In the last decade, Amazon has integrated over 500,000 robots into its "fulfillment centers"—the enormous warehouses where Amazon packages and ships orders. Simultaneously, the company has hired over a million human workers, asserting that the ideal balance of efficiency comes from humans and robots working side by side.

At the same time, Amazon is focusing on developing robots that can perform the agile tasks humans do, like identifying and picking small items from mixed bins. With these advancements, how soon will companies like Amazon be able to fully replace human workers who require breaks and keep pushing for unionization?

"We’ll see rapid automation in those controlled warehouse settings," Ford predicts. "Within the next five years, expect a significant reduction in human staff at Amazon warehouses."

8. Radiologists and Medical Diagnosticians

Back in 2016, long before became a reality, Turing Award-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton remarked, "We should stop training radiologists now."

This is because intelligent machines using algorithms had already become highly effective at detecting pathologies in medical imaging such as X-rays and MRIs. In 2019, AI radiologists outperformed human doctors in identifying cancer in medical images, finding 5 percent more cancers and reducing false positives by 11 percent.

Does this mean that AI will replace all radiologists within the next decade? Not exactly, according to Davenport.

"I believe the only radiologists who will lose their jobs are the ones unwilling to collaborate with AI," says Davenport.

8 Jobs Least Threatened by AI

Despite the buzz around generative AI, many jobs remain exceptionally hard, if not outright impossible, to automate.

1. Skilled Tradespeople

Consider the level of expertise, manual dexterity, and problem-solving required to be a certified plumber or electrician. While some tasks may be routine, each situation brings its own set of challenges, both physical and intellectual.

Generative AI is remarkable, and so are robots in warehouses and factories, but replicating the distinctive skills of a plumber or electrician "would require C3PO from 'Star Wars,'" says Ford. "Creating a robot that could perform those tasks is purely science fiction."

2. Construction

In the near future, a lot of the work involved in designing and engineering buildings will be assisted by AI software, but when it comes to physically hammering nails and laying bricks, the construction industry will still rely heavily on human muscle and expertise.

More and more construction will shift to a modular approach, where individual components are created in factories using 3D printers and other machinery off-site, and later assembled at the construction site. However, according to a report by McKinsey, by 2030 only 15 to 20 percent of new construction will follow this modular model.

"For the tasks that remain on-site, it's unlikely that a company will replace a carpenter entirely with the latest robot. Instead, machines will take over specific tasks within a role. This means workers will need to adapt to working alongside machines or in hybrid roles," the report stated.

3. Food Preparation and Serving

A Goldman Sachs report (Exhibit 8) reveals that at least half of the tasks involved in cooking and serving food are beyond the reach of AI or robots. In comparison, the legal sector sees 40 percent of tasks potentially replaced by AI, with 60 percent at least complemented by machines.

That said, automation is making its way into the food industry. White Castle, the fast-food chain, has already implemented robots in some locations to flip burgers and cook fries. Like other sectors, Davenport argues that people are willing to accept automation for the low-end tasks. "We don't mind if a robot prepares our hamburger at White Castle," he says, "but we expect the chef at a fine dining restaurant to be human, not a robot."

4. Psychology and Counseling

AI-driven tools are increasingly being developed for counseling and mental health services. For example, conversational AI chatbots are projected to become a $1.25 billion market by 2025.

However, Ford emphasizes that while chatbot services like Woebot can provide basic mental health support — including guiding users through exercises like cognitive behavioral therapy — they are not intended to replace human therapists.

"For the foreseeable future, we won't encounter machines capable of the level of human interaction and relationship-building that people possess," Ford explains.

Other healthcare professions requiring significant human interaction, such as nurses and doctors, are unlikely to be replaced by AI.

5. Elementary School Teachers

Technology is reshaping education in many ways. Both Davenport and Ford highlight exciting advances like online learning platforms and AI-driven tutoring apps that tailor lessons to individual students. However, there are clear limits to what AI can accomplish in a classroom, particularly with younger children.

"At the preschool and elementary levels, the need for human interaction is critical," says Ford. "As students get older, however, that need diminishes." (Some would counter, highlighting the role that teachers play in continuing to motivate and guide students of all ages.)

Ford envisions a future where AI educators in high school and college settings may "outperform human teachers" in terms of capabilities.

6. Professional Athletes and Coaches

Could we soon see NBA fans rooting for a robot version of Lebron James? It's unlikely. The extraordinary physical and mental abilities of professional athletes are nearly impossible to replicate in a machine.

However, that doesn't mean athletes and coaches aren't already benefiting from AI. Technologies now exist that monitor each player's exact movements, offering insights to boost performance and minimize injuries.

In the future, coaches will use AI to spot top recruits, assess an opponent's defense, and create personalized training plans for individual players. But, much like teachers and therapists, there's no substitute for the human touch that a skilled coach brings.

7. Drivers (For Now)

It might be surprising given all the buzz around driverless cars, but are we really just a few years away from self-driving Ubers and 18-wheelers replacing human cabbies and truck drivers?

Both Davenport and Ford disagree with this notion.

Yes, Waymo has started offering driverless rides in a specific area of downtown Phoenix, Arizona, and plans to extend this service to San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, according to Davenport, this technology is still far from widespread. He's been hearing about the impending dominance of autonomous vehicles since the 1980s. "We're 90 percent there, but that last 10 percent is going to take time," says Davenport.

Ford agrees, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of real-world driving and the liability risks faced by companies that manufacture driverless cars.

"Once you're driving on a public road with pedestrians, cyclists, dogs, and cats, it's pure chaos," says Ford. "It's impossible to control that. That's the core issue with self-driving cars on public streets."

8. Truly Creative Thinkers

Entrepreneurs, inventors, writers, and actors — these professions will certainly benefit from generative AI, but by its very nature, cannot "think outside the box." According to Ford, "genuinely creative roles" are the most secure in the age of AI.

Even if AI makes inroads into writing, art, and music, Davenport believes that people will always be willing to pay a premium for "human-generated work," especially when it comes to the high-end market.

While AI can produce business earnings reports or election results, interpreting what they mean, or offering a perspective, still requires a human writer — at least for the time being.