Aug 22, 2025 - Education Brief

10 jobs least and most threatened by AI

Man in gray shirt with name tag "Shultz" sits in a control room surrounded by monitors, dials, and controls, smiling with a water body visible through the windows behind him. — Dredge operator Charles Shultz in 2006 while working on the Mississippi shipping channel north of Hastings, Minn. Photo: Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune via Getty Images

If you're wondering if the cost of college is still worth it given the rise of AI and its likely effect on jobs, the answer is, it depends.

Driving the news: Jobs dealing with language — both written and verbal — as well as those in customer service populate the list of those most susceptible to AI, per a recent Microsoft study.

Specialized physical labor roles and equipment operators are among those least at risk of being replaced.
The study scores jobs' resilience through three categories: 1) whether AI is currently being used for that work, 2) how successfully it does so and 3) how much of that occupation's total work can be done by AI.

⚡️ Zoom in: Most vulnerable jobs (higher scores are more at risk):

Interpreters and translators
Historians
Passenger attendants
Sales representatives of services
Writers and authors
Customer service representatives
CNC (computer numerical control) tool programmers
Telephone operators
Ticket agents and travel clerks
Broadcast announcers and radio DJs

Least vulnerable:

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

Education Brief

10 jobs least and most threatened by AI

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