Will AI replace your job? Microsoft report reveals careers most at risk in 2025

Dubai: Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a buzzword. It's already reshaping how we search, write, sell, analyse data — and even teach. But which jobs are truly vulnerable to being overrun by AI tools?

A new study by Microsoft Research sheds light on this. By analysing 200,000 anonymised interactions between US users and Bing Copilot between January and September 2024, the tech giant has identified the professions most (and least) affected by generative AI tools.

The goal, Microsoft researchers say, is not to stoke fear but to provide clarity. “Our research shows that AI supports many tasks, particularly those involving research, writing and communication, but it does not indicate it can fully perform any single occupation,” said Kiran Tomlinson, Microsoft senior researcher and lead author of the paper.

The study introduces an “AI applicability score” — a measure of how much overlap there is between AI capabilities and daily job duties.

The findings suggest that while no role is fully automatable, many can be significantly supported — or disrupted — by AI.

Here are the top 10 professions with the highest AI applicability scores, meaning they involve a high percentage of tasks that AI tools like Copilot can already perform:

Many of these roles involve repetitive communication, text generation or information retrieval — all areas where AI has shown strong performance.

Jobs that require physical presence, hands-on work, or emotional intelligence tend to be more AI-resilient. According to Microsoft, roles in healthcare, education, and skilled trades — such as phlebotomists, nursing assistants, ship engineers and tire repairers — are among the least affected.

These jobs rely heavily on human empathy, dexterity, or real-world problem-solving, which are currently beyond the scope of AI capabilities.

While the data might seem daunting, experts say the takeaway isn’t to fear AI — it’s to embrace it.

"You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI," said Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, at the 2025 Milken Institute Global Conference.

Companies like Shopify, Duolingo, and Fiverr have already made AI literacy part of their internal upskilling — or hiring — criteria.

According to Stanford lecturer Robert E. Siegel, the rise of AI makes human-centric skills more valuable than ever.

These include:

“The AI revolution is real,” Siegel wrote for CNBC Make It. “Rather than fearing it, we should treat it as a catalyst for growth and reinvention.”

Microsoft’s research makes one thing clear: AI isn’t coming for your job — unless you let it. Those who learn to collaborate with AI, rather than compete against it, are the ones most likely to thrive.