Will you lose your job to AI? This tool could give you a clue
A new online tool promises to show workers how exposed their job is to AI, as debate intensifies over how the technology will reshape the labour market.
The platform, launched by career intelligence startup Somethingelse, allows users to test their role against an analysis of more than 5,000 jobs.
It measures how much of each role consists of tasks that AI systems are already capable of performing.
The tool launches at a moment of growing uncertainty for white-collar workers, with companies and economists increasingly warning that AI could transform knowledge work.
Yet evidence so far suggests the change may arrive through a gradual shift in how jobs are structured, rather than a wave of immediate layoffs.
Jonny Quirk, founder of Somethingelse, told Morning Wire: “The biggest misconception is that AI is fully replacing jobs right now. When in reality, it’s more about AI replacing tasks inside jobs.”
Job losses: gradually…then suddenly?
Research published on Monday by AI heavyweight Anthropic echoes Quirk’s concerns. Its analysis of real-world AI uses found that tools such as LLMs are already being used for tasks like research and documentation, but that actual adoption remains well below their theoretical capability.
The reality of that gap suggests the labour market transition may unfold slowly as companies experiment with these new tools.
According to Somethinelse’s analysis, roles most exposed to automation tend to involve repetitive, structured work.
Administrative support, data entry, bookkeeping, scripted customer service, scheduling roles and high-volume content production were among the occupations identified as most vulnerable.
Quirk said the research shows that most professions consist of many different activities, some of which are far easier to automate than others.
“Almost every role we analysed is made up of dozens of different activities,” he said. “AI might automate a lot of those activities, but human judgement, context, relationships and decision-making will still be required.”
However, even partial automation can reshape organisations, and if routine tasks take less time to complete, companies may require fewer employees to carry them out.
“Over the coming months and years, this will ultimately shrink teams down to the bare minimum of employees needed to function, such as an HR or accounting department,” Quirk said.
Fewer tasks and leaner teams
In many cases, the immediate impact of AI is speeding up existing work rather than eliminating it.
Quirk describes the process as “task compression rather than full-scale job elimination”.
A marketing professional, for example, might previously have spent hours researching and editing documents, but AI tools can now perform many of those steps quickly.
While that can increase productivity, it can also reduce the number of people needed in some teams.
“This will shrink the labour market because fewer people will be required on each team, fewer entry-level jobs will become available, and businesses will realise they can be much more profitable by keeping teams as lean as possible,” Quirk said.
Some firms have already slowed hiring as they test how AI tools can automate tasks previously carried out by junior staff.
“We’re already seeing this with some companies putting freezes on hiring and asking the question, ‘Do we actually need this new hire, or can AI do it instead?'” Quirk added.
Insurance underwriters beware
His analysis highlights several occupations with particularly high exposure to automation in the coming years, including call centre agents, insurance underwriters, loan officers, quality assurance testers and taxi drivers.
“AI systems are essentially pattern-recognition engines,” Quirk said. “If a task follows a clear pattern or rule set, AI can usually learn it very quickly.”
Other jobs appear more resistant to automation. Roles involving human levels of judgement, emotional intelligence or physical work like healthcare practitioners, therapists, educators and emergency services, will remain harder for AI systems to replicate.
Skilled trades also show low exposure in the analysis because they involve unpredictable environments and hands-on tasks.
Besides the risks they bring, Somethingelse argues that the same AI tools transforming the labour market may also create new opportunities.
Because AI can automate tasks such as market research, marketing and content creation, individuals can now launch businesses or freelance services with far fewer resources.
“One person today can do work that used to require a small team,” Quirk said. “You can build products, create content, analyse markets and launch services with tools that simply didn’t exist a few years ago.”
The AI risk checker was designed to help people assess their role’s exposure and identify transferable skills that could be used in more resilient careers.
“Our job at Somethingelse isn’t to scare people,” Quirk told Morning Wire. “It’s to start a conversation on what the future of work will look like in the years ahead, helping people make smart, informed choices for themselves and families.”