Study: Management, Accounting Most Exposed to AI; Healthcare, Manual Labor Least

These are the jobs most likely to be taken over by AI, according to research

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation have the potential to replace many jobs, especially white-collar jobs involving routine tasks, according to a recent study by the UK's Department of Education.

The occupations most exposed to replacement by AI tools and chatbots include:

- Management consultants and business analysts
- Financial managers and directors
- Accountants
- Psychologists
- Purchasing managers

The study found that these professional roles, particularly those associated with clerical work and across finance, law, and business management, are most exposed to replacement by AI. This is because AI tools excel at routine tasks like data processing and handling simple transactions.

However, AI can also enhance human work rather than replace it outright. The healthcare industry demonstrates this well. While AI tools can rapidly diagnose tumors and handle routine tasks, human doctors are still needed to make final diagnoses, provide empathy, and process all the nuanced information about a patient. The relationship between AI replacing a job and AI improving a job is very close.

Manual and skilled labor roles are least exposed to replacement by AI, according to the research. Jobs like sports players, roofers, construction workers, plasterers, and steel workers top the list of roles least likely to be replaced by AI tools. This is because these jobs require physical dexterity and skills that AI cannot yet match.

To avoid being replaced by AI, workers should focus on providing personalized, empathetic services to customers and making complex inferences or decisions that require human judgement. AI chatbots like ChatGPT can handle routine customer queries, freeing up humans to provide more meaningful service. And AI writing tools can help generate text, allowing people to spend more time revising, editing, and customizing.

The key is finding ways AI can enhance human work rather than replace it. By focusing on uniquely human skills, workers can stay competitive even as AI becomes more capable.