These 34 Jobs AI Will Never Take Over and Their Salary Insights

Top Stories World's Healthiest Country Are You Saving Enough? 8 European Villages For An Affordable Retirement Buffett's Warning About AI Table of Contents Expand Table of Contents What Careers Are AI-Proof? How Researchers Determined How AI Could Affect Different Jobs All told, 15% of tasks across all jobs could be done faster by AI with no decrease in quality, with that number jumping to somewhere between 47% and 56% if the AI were paired with specialized software and tooling for specific applications, the researchers calculated. Jessie Casson / Getty Images Close Key Takeaways Electrical power-line installers and repairers earn a median salary of $92,560 and face little chance of being automated by AI, according to a Science study. Still, it's one of America's most dangerous jobs, while others pay far below the U.S. median salary. If you want a high-paying job that’s safe from being automated by AI, you’d better not be afraid of heights or electricity. That’s according to researchers at OpenAI, OpenResearch, and the University of Pennsylvania, who identified 34 occupations that AI could never do in a Science article published in 2024. Checking in a couple of years after the article was first drafted, the researchers have thus far been right: these are hands-on roles requiring your physical presence, manual labor, or involves work in highly unpredictable environments, leaving little for AI to automate. What Careers Are AI-Proof? The top-paying position was electrical power-line installers and repairers. The folks who maintain and repair power lines make a median annual salary of $92,560, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The job may be safe from automation, but it is a risky way to make a living—it had the 10th-highest fatality rate of all occupations in 2023, according to BLS data, with 18.4 deaths for every 100,000 workers, more than five times the rate for all workers, 3.5. Other relatively high-paying AI-proof jobs included athletes and pile-driver operators. Many, however, had relatively low wages, such as bartenders, cafeteria workers, and other manual laborers. For comparison, the median annual salary as of 2024 was $60,268, according to the BLS. The Jobs That Aren't Some of the highest-paying white collar jobs in finance and software are the most exposed, the University of Pennsylvania researchers predicted in their paper. Jobs in securities, commodity contracts, other financial investments, and related activities (average annual wage of $109,710 in 2025), insurance carriers and related activities ($79,000); and data processing, hosting, and related services ($117,000) had the most exposure to AI, according to the researchers. Recent data supports that prediction: A 2025 Stanford study using ADP payroll records found that early-career workers in AI-exposed fields like software development and customer service have undergone a 13% relative decline in employment since late 2022, while major banks, including Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) and JPMorgan & Chase & Co. (JPM), have begun reducing junior analyst hiring as they deploy AI across their operations. Related Education The Top 10 Jobs You Can Land with Just a High School Diploma or GED How to Handle Unemployment Overpayment: Appeals, Waivers, and Repayment How Researchers Determined How AI Could Affect Different Jobs To calculate the likely AI impact, the researchers, Tyna Eloundou, Sam Manning, Pamela Mishkin, and Daniel Rock, along with other AI experts, rated the individual tasks that each occupation required on how much time could be saved by using AI. The researchers automated some of their own jobs and asked an AI program to do the same, noting it came up with similar ratings as the humans. All told, 15% of tasks across all jobs could be done faster by AI with no decrease in quality, with that number jumping to somewhere between 47% and 56% if the AI were paired with specialized software and tooling for specific applications, the researchers calculated. “These technologies can have pervasive impacts across a wide swath of occupations in the U.S.,” the researchers wrote. “As capabilities continue to evolve, the impact of LLMs on the economy will likely persist and increase.” Do you have a news tip for Investopedia reporters? Please email us at [email protected] Article Sources Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy. Science. "GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries—2023." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities: NAICS 523." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services: NAICS 518." Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Insurance Carriers and Related Activities: NAICS 524." CNBC. "Big Banks Like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Are Already Using AI to Hire Fewer People." Brynjolfsson E., Chandar B., and Chen R. "Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence." Working Paper, Stanford Digital Economy Lab (August 2025). Compare Accounts Advertiser Disclosure × The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Investopedia receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where listings appear. Investopedia does not include all offers available in the marketplace. Read more Partner Links Related Articles Top 6 High-Paying Jobs in Finance Tech Skills That Make You Stand Out: How to Succeed in Today's Competitive Job Market Minimum Wage in 2026 Mapped: Which States Have Higher Rates and Who Stays at $7.25 Employers Fear They Can't Meet Your Salary Expectations—Here's What They're Offering Instead Best Entry Level Finance Jobs: Career Paths and Salaries Starting Your Career? 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