A recent Microsoft study analyzed search queries on Bing Copilot to determine the “AI applicability” across various job sectors, aiming to identify professions potentially impacted by artificial intelligence.
The study, conducted by Microsoft researchers, focused on understanding how users are leveraging AI assistance in their work activities, the tasks AI performs, and the implications for different occupations. The research led to the development of an “AI applicability score,” designed to measure the extent to which AI can be productively integrated into a particular vocation.
According to the report, the AI applicability score serves as a metric to “track the frontier of AI’s relevance to work.” The study suggests that in roles with high AI applicability, the technology often functions as a supportive tool, acting “in a service role to the human as a coach, advisor, or teacher that gathers information and explains it to the user,” the report states.
The Microsoft study identifies knowledge-based occupations as having the highest AI applicability scores. These include “computer and mathematical, and office and administrative support,” as well as roles such as sales, where providing and communicating information are key job activities.
The study lists the top 40 occupations with the highest AI applicability scores, predominantly consisting of knowledge economy jobs involving the analysis, communication, and interpretation of specialized information. These roles are perceived to be areas where AI can significantly augment human capabilities.
Conversely, the study identifies occupations with low AI applicability scores, which are primarily blue-collar jobs involving manual labor and physical tasks. Examples include “dishwasher,” “cement mason,” “gas pumping station operator,” “floor sander,” “motorboat operator,” “hazardous waste removal worker,” and “embalmer.” These jobs are characterized by tasks that are difficult to automate with current AI technology.
Notably, the author’s profession, writing, scored relatively high on the AI applicability scale, suggesting potential for automation or AI assistance in this field.
Despite identifying jobs with high AI applicability, the Microsoft study argues against a direct correlation between AI’s capabilities and job displacement. The report cautions, “It is tempting to conclude that occupations that have high overlap with activities AI performs will be automated and thus experience job or wage loss, and that occupations with activities AI assists with will be augmented and raise wages. This would be a mistake, as our data do not include the downstream business impacts of new technology, which are very hard to predict and often counterintuitive.”
Microsoft appears to be downplaying the potential disruptive effects of AI on the job market. However, the article notes that recent layoffs in industries adopting AI, such as coding, suggest that the impact of AI on job security may be more predictable, at least in the short term.
The article humorously concludes that professions like embalming, involving direct handling of physical objects, are likely to remain secure from AI encroachment. Conversely, those aspiring to careers beyond manual labor may face greater uncertainty due to the increasing capabilities of AI.
In summary, the Microsoft study provides insights into the potential applications of AI across different job sectors, highlighting both opportunities for augmentation and potential risks of automation. While the study attempts to temper concerns about job displacement, the broader implications of AI adoption on the labor market remain a subject of ongoing discussion and observation.
