Worried AI will take your job? These 10 professions face the lowest risk

# 10 U.S. Jobs With the Lowest Risk of AI Automation, New Analysis Finds

As artificial intelligence increasingly reshapes workplaces and fuels concerns about job displacement, a new analysis by IT support provider Hamilton Group identifies several professions that may be less vulnerable to AI automation because they depend on human judgment, physical presence and direct interaction.

The September 2026 analysis examined 60 occupations with estimated AI automation risks below 45%. Hamilton Group compared the responsibilities associated with those jobs with AI augmentation data from the Anthropic Economic Index, along with U.S. employment figures and median annual wages.

Emergency medical technicians, paramedics, healthcare professionals and social workers emerged among the occupations with the lowest estimated automation risks in the analysis. The findings suggest that jobs requiring workers to respond to unpredictable situations, make decisions in real time and interact directly with people may be harder for AI systems to perform independently.

Emergency medical technicians had an estimated AI automation risk of 0%, the lowest level recorded in the analysis. About 181,000 EMTs were employed in the United States in 2025, with a median annual wage of approximately $44,000, according to Hamilton Group.

The nature of emergency medical work helps explain the low estimate. EMTs respond to 911 calls, evaluate patients and provide immediate care in circumstances that can change rapidly. Their work requires physical presence as well as decisions based on information that may be incomplete or unpredictable.

Paramedics also recorded a 0% estimated automation risk. The occupation employed roughly 101,000 people in 2025 and had a median annual wage of about $61,000.

AI could potentially support paramedics with administrative responsibilities, including documentation and report preparation. However, the central responsibilities of assessing patients and delivering emergency care require workers to be physically present and make decisions in real-world situations.

Several other healthcare and social service professions also appeared near the bottom of Hamilton Group’s automation-risk estimates.

Physicians classified as “all other” had an estimated AI automation risk of 4.5%, while their median annual wage reached approximately $266,000, the highest among the 10 occupations highlighted in the analysis.

Mental health and substance abuse social workers also had an estimated automation risk of 4.5%. Their work frequently involves conversations with people experiencing complicated personal or emotional circumstances, requiring communication, contextual understanding and the development of trust.

Child, family and school social workers had a 6.7% automation risk. With approximately 393,000 workers in 2025, the occupation represented the largest workforce among the 10 professions highlighted by Hamilton Group.

Registered nurses recorded an estimated automation risk of 6.9%. The profession employed approximately 3.4 million people in 2025 and had a median annual wage of about $98,000.

The 10 occupations identified in the analysis had estimated AI automation risks ranging from 0% to 10.3%. Clinical and counseling psychologists had a 9.8% risk, while nurse practitioners and general internal medicine physicians each recorded 9.9%. Coaches and scouts had the highest estimated risk among the 10 occupations, at 10.3%.

Together, the professions represent millions of U.S. workers. Registered nurses account for the largest workforce in the group, while median annual salaries range from approximately $44,000 for EMTs to $266,000 for physicians.

Healthcare and social services dominate the list, accounting for eight of the 10 occupations identified by Hamilton Group. Each of those eight professions had an estimated AI automation risk below 10%.

The analysis also distinguishes between AI automation and AI augmentation. A profession can increasingly use AI tools without the technology replacing the person responsible for performing the job.

That distinction is particularly significant in healthcare. AI can help professionals analyze information, organize medical records, retrieve research and support administrative work, while doctors, nurses and other trained workers remain responsible for interacting with patients and making care decisions.

The findings point to a broader characteristic shared by many occupations with relatively low automation estimates: their work involves more than producing or processing information.

A doctor must communicate with a patient, a nurse must provide hands-on care, an EMT must respond to an emergency and a social worker must understand an individual's circumstances and work directly with that person.

A Hamilton Group job analyst cited the importance of human connection, understanding and empathy in these professions, arguing that those elements remain difficult for AI to replicate.

The analysis also highlights that low exposure to AI automation does not necessarily correspond to high pay. Among the five occupations with the lowest estimated automation risk, physicians were the only profession with a median annual wage exceeding $61,000.

Hamilton Group's findings do not suggest that these professions will remain completely unaffected by AI. Instead, they indicate that AI may take over or assist with particular tasks while humans continue handling responsibilities involving physical action, judgment, communication and accountability.

As AI systems become more capable, the distinction between replacing an entire occupation and automating individual tasks could become increasingly important. For workers, the impact of AI may ultimately depend less on whether a technology can perform a job in its entirety and more on which specific parts of that job can be handled by machines.