Artificial intelligence isn’t here to replace every job — but it’s already transforming many of them. That’s the key takeaway from a new Microsoft study analyzing over 200,000 anonymous user interactions with its AI assistant, Copilot, in the United States. By identifying which tasks are most often automated, the research pinpoints which professions are likely to feel the biggest impact from generative AI.

The study finds that users most often turn to AI for information gathering and writing, while the system itself most frequently delivers information, drafts texts, teaches concepts and offers advice. By combining these activity patterns with success rates and their prevalence in different jobs, the report Working with AI: Measuring the Occupational Implications of Generative AI introduces an “AI applicability index” — a score indicating how much of a profession’s workload could be executed or accelerated by AI. The higher the score, the greater the potential disruption.

The results point to a clear trend: knowledge-based roles — including computer and mathematical fields, office and administrative support, and sales — rank highest in AI applicability, largely because they involve providing and communicating information:

The 20 most impacted roles

1. Interpreters and translators

2. Historians

3. Flight attendants

4. Sales representatives

5. Copywriters and authors

6. Customer service agents

7. CNC programmers

8. Telephone operators

9. Travel agents

10. Broadcasters

11. Brokerage clerks

12. Agricultural and home management educators

13. Telemarketers

14. Concierges

15. Political scientists

16. Reporters and journalists

17. Mathematicians

18. Technical writers

19. Proofreaders and editors

20. Receptionists

Industry experts heard by Forbes emphasize that while AI can automate many functions, it cannot replace uniquely human capabilities. “Empathy, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, adaptability, and ethical judgment remain out of reach for machines,” says David Dias, EY’s Latin America AI leader. “The challenge is reinvention — the pace of change demands that we continually and rapidly re-skill.”

—

Source: Microsoft Research | Forbes