Artificial intelligence to put 10 million jobs at high risk in the US: Report

Key highlights:

• AI is expected to put 10 million US jobs at risk in the next 5-10 years
• Jobs like cooks and servers, cleaners and janitors, as well as warehouse workers
• Cooks and servers face the highest risk of losing their jobs to automation

It is not people from other countries taking jobs of US citizens that US President Donald Trump has to worry but artificial intelligence (AI). AI is expected to put 10 million US jobs at risk in the next 5-10 years, according to a CB Insights report.

It said that automation is coming after jobs, from fast food workers to accountants. The next phase of technological evolution is already underway: advanced neural networks that learn, adapt and respond to situations.

“Analyzing the automation landscape, we found that 10 million service and warehouse jobs are at high risk of displacement within the next 5 – 10 years in the US alone. This includes jobs like cooks and servers, cleaners and janitors, as well as warehouse workers,” said the report.

It further said that nearly 5 million retail workers are at a medium risk of automation within 10 years.

“To put these numbers into perspective, estimates are that over a few years the Great Recession of 2007 – 2010 destroyed 8.7 million jobs in the US,” it said.

Source: CB Insights

The professions at the highest risk to lose their jobs to AI are cooks and servers, cleaners and movers and warehouse workers.

Cooks and servers face the highest risk of losing their jobs to automation with 4.3 million workers expected to lose their jobs in the next few years.

About 3.8 million cleaners face the immediate risk from automation, while 2.4 million movers and warehouse workers face the immediate risk due to AI.

Jobs in the US that face a medium risk due to automation is retail salesperson with 4.6 million workers.

Professions such as truck drivers, construction and nurses and health aides are low at immediate risk from automation.

About 1.8 million truck driver jobs are at risk due to automation, 1.2 million from the construction laborers and 6.9 million nurses and health aides are at risk from automation.

“With the emergence of industry-specific AI, the effects of automation — initially felt in manufacturing — are seeping into retail sales, restaurants, e-commerce, marketing, and even software development,” it said.