Female-dominated careers among most exposed to AI disruption

Most US workers in jobs exposed to AI are also relatively well placed to adapt if disruption leads to displacement, according to research summarized by the Brookings Institution. However, there are some careers with high percentages of female workers that are in a bad position.

Brookings' analysis of a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, released this week, argues that while many previous assessments have focused on how "exposed" different occupations are to AI, they often overlook what it calls "a critical dimension: workers' ability to adapt if job loss does occur."

That ability to adapt was based on more obvious factors, such as age and financial security, as well as other issues such as union membership, geography, and the state of local labor markets.

Once these factors were taken into consideration, the researchers concluded that "Of the 37.1 million U.S. workers in the top quartile of occupational AI exposure, 26.5 million also have above-median adaptive capacity."

So, lawyers, software developers, and financial managers were all in "exposed" roles, but also had "strong pay, financial buffers, diverse skills, and deep professional networks." They were well-placed to weather any AI-induced storms.

Other roles had much lower levels of exposure to AI and higher adaptivity. So, you might want to consider a future in dentistry, firefighting, or medicine. Or, if you like uniforms but not sharp objects, being a flight attendant could be an option. Butchers were rated amongst the least adaptable, but also amongst the least exposed to the impact of AI.

But, the researchers found, there are roughly 6.1 million workers who "face both high exposure to LLMs and low adaptive capacity to manage a job transition."

"Many of these workers occupy administrative and clerical jobs where savings are modest, workers' skill transferability is limited, and reemployment prospects are narrower."

This, in turn, means that they are more likely to face longer job searches, less chance of actually finding new employment, and "more significant relative earnings losses compared to other workers."

And, if you haven't guessed it, "Of these workers, 86 percent are women."

Geography also came into play. "The concentration of exposed and vulnerable workers is greatest in smaller metro areas and college towns, particularly in the Mountain West and Midwest-reflecting such areas' elevated presence of administrative and clerical workers." ®