AUSTIN, Texas — A new study ranks Austin as the sixth-highest city in the U.S. for artificial intelligence (AI) job displacement.
The study, conducted by (un)Common Logic, says that just over 10% of all workers in Austin are at risk of AI-related automation. That's roughly 126,000 workers in the Austin area.
The jobs facing the highest risk of being done by AI are budget analysts, loan officers, accountants, insurance sales agents and paralegals. The study said these jobs face high AI exposure as well as high risk of automation because their tasks and knowledge can be more easily learned and replicated by AI systems. These roles account for an estimate 9% of all workers nationally, the study said.
Conversely, workers who face both low AI exposure and low risk of automation include “highly hands-on professionals,” such as dancers, firefighters and plumbers.
But even jobs that are unlikely to be significantly impacted by AI may face other types of automation risks, the study said, including farm laborers or fast food workers. The study also said professions like lawyers, CEOs and civil engineers might rely on AI to enhance decision-making but face low probabilities of being completely automated.
Compared to other types of automation, it’s predicted AI will have a greater impact on high-income workers. Five states – South Dakota, Kansas, Delaware, Florida and New York – have high concentrations of workers in the knowledge sector, making more than one in 10 vulnerable to AI-related automation. Meanwhile, states like Indiana, Arkansas and Nevada, where the workforce is more concentrated in agriculture, manufacturing or service professions, face a lower risk of AI-driven automation.
Other Texas cities making the top 50 are Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 23 and San Antonio at No. 22, both at around 9%, and then the Houston area at just over 8% at No. 49.