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A new study from Microsoft gives us some insight into what researchers think about jobs most impacted by AI.

The study “Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI” investigates how generative AI interacts with tasks across hundreds of occupations. Rather than predicting job replacement, the authors focus on task-level applicability, assessing how often AI is used, how successfully it performs, and how broadly it impacts work.

Using a dataset of more than 900 occupations and 19,000 tasks, the AI applicability score reflects the degree to which AI can assist or perform tasks within a given role, offering a nuanced view of how AI may reshape the workplace.

Here are the 40 occupations the study says are most likely to be disrupted by AI, based on these scores.

Rank	Occupation	AI Applicability Score
1	Interpreters and Translators	0.49
2	Historians	0.48
3	Passenger Attendants	0.47
4	Sales Representatives, Services, All Other	0.46
5	Writers and Authors	0.45
6	Customer Service Representatives	0.44
7	Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers	0.44
8	Telephone Operators	0.42
9	Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks	0.41
10	Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys	0.41
11	Technical Writers	0.40
12	Public Relations Specialists	0.40
13	Proofreaders and Copy Markers	0.39
14	Correspondence Clerks	0.39
15	Editors	0.39
16	Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks	0.38
17	Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	0.38
18	Executive Secretaries and Executive Assistants	0.38
19	Human Resources Specialists	0.37
20	Paralegals and Legal Assistants	0.37
21	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	0.37
22	Tax Preparers	0.36
23	Data Entry Keyers	0.36
24	Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants	0.36
25	Office Clerks, General	0.36
26	Receptionists and Information Clerks	0.36
27	Billing and Posting Clerks	0.35
28	Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks	0.35
29	Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks	0.35
30	Financial Examiners	0.35
31	Loan Interviewers and Clerks	0.35
32	Brokerage Clerks	0.35
33	Insurance Underwriters	0.35
34	Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists	0.34
35	Training and Development Specialists	0.34
36	Fundraisers	0.34
37	Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	0.34
38	Survey Researchers	0.34
39	Social Science Research Assistants	0.34
40	Library Science Teachers, Postsecondary	0.34

The researchers also grouped them.

Occupational Group	AI Applicability Score	Notes
Sales and Related	0.32	High overlap with communication tasks
Computer and Mathematical	0.30	Programming, data handling
Office and Administrative Support	0.29	Documentation, scheduling, info provision
Community and Social Service	0.25	Advising, assisting, teaching
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, Media	0.25	Content creation, editing, presenting
Business and Financial Operations	0.24	Analysis, reporting, advising
Educational Instruction and Library	0.23	Teaching, preparing materials

H/T The Rundown

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About the Author

Paul Dughi is the CEO at StrongerContent.com with more than 30 years of experience as a journalist, content strategist, and Emmy-award winning writer/producer. Paul has earned more than 30 regional and national awards for journalistic excellence and earned credentials in SEO, content marketing, and AI optimization from Google. HubSpot, Moz, Facebook, LinkedIn, SEMRush, eMarketing Institute, Local Media Association, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and Vanderbilt University.