Several media and tech companies, including BuzzFeed and Microsoft, have already stated their intentions to use artificial intelligence to generate content and improve their products. And while BuzzFeed claims that AI will not impact the size of its workforce, the announcement came a month after the company laid off 12% of its employees to cut costs.
The advantages AI can offer businesses is undeniable, and the implications are impossible to ignore. AI is capable of automating a wide range of tasks that, until now, have been performed by humans. But unlike human beings, an AI does not need regular paychecks or breaks. And as AI capabilities continue to develop, virtually no industry will be left untouched. (Here is a look at the fastest growing industries in America.)
Using data compiled by NetVoucherCodes, a U.K.-based voucher code website, 24/7 Wall St. identified the states that could lose the most jobs to automation and AI. States are ranked on the share of all jobs that are at high risk of being replaced by AI or automatic. Notably, NetVoucherCodes used an AI program to aid in its analysis.
The share of jobs that could be replaced by AI and automation differs by state and ranges from 15.3% to nearly 25%. Distinct from AI, automation – such as the software used in automatic checkout counters, or robotics used in manufacturing – poses risk to the largest number of jobs in the coming years. According to the NetVoucherCodes report, 19.4 million American jobs, or 16.4% of all jobs considered, are at high risk of replacement by automation, compared to 2.8 million, or 2.4% of all jobs, threatened by AI.
The states where the largest share of workers are at risk of being replaced by technology tend to have large manufacturing sectors, while those where smaller shares of the workforce are at risk of losing their jobs to technology tend to have high employment in the professional, scientific, and management sector. (Here is a look at the industry laying off the most Americans.)
