What Jobs Do People Think AI Can Replace?
Findings from an Emotion Encoded Survey
When people imagine the future of work, they often picture machines taking over tasks once reserved for humans. But which jobs do we think are most vulnerable?
In a recent Emotion Encoded survey of 43 respondents, people shared which professions they believe AI could potentially replace. The results are both predictable and surprising.
Survey Results: Professions at Risk
Below are the professions and the percentage of respondents who believe AI could replace them, ranked by vulnerability:
| Profession | Count (N=43) | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Graphic Designers | 31 | 72.1% |
| Software Developers | 30 | 69.8% |
| Writers | 27 | 62.8% |
| Accountants | 24 | 55.8% |
| Tutors | 24 | 55.8% |
| Paralegals | 24 | 55.8% |
| Cashiers | 20 | 46.5% |
| Retail Workers | 20 | 46.5% |
| Travel Agents | 16 | 37.2% |
| Artists | 13 | 30.2% |
| Movie Producers | 13 | 30.2% |
| Customer Service Agents | 12 | 27.9% |
| Photographers | 11 | 25.6% |
| Models | 9 | 20.9% |
Key Insights from the Data
1. Creativity is not safe anymore.
The single highest response was graphic designers (72.1%), followed closely by software developers (69.8%) and writers (62.8%). This suggests people no longer see creativity or technical skill as uniquely human. AI’s ability to generate art, design, code, and text is reshaping what creative work even means.
2. White-collar professions — AI is coming.
Roles such as accountants (55.8%), tutors (55.8%), and paralegals (55.8%) were also seen as replaceable. This reflects how AI is viewed as powerful enough to handle structured, repetitive, and knowledge-heavy work ranging from legal briefs to lesson plans.
3. The service sector will be affected.
Cashiers (46.5%), retail workers (46.5%), and travel agents (37.2%) ranked high. This matches real-world automation we already see in self-checkouts, booking sites, and customer service chatbots.
4 & 5. Skepticism remains around human-heavy fields.
Roles requiring strong human intuition, like photographers (25.6%), artists (30.2%), and movie producers (30.2%), scored lower. Similarly, Models (20.9%) were the least selected, suggesting a current belief that physical presence and human representation cannot be entirely faked by machines.
The Bigger Picture
What stands out is the psychological contradiction. People are most ready to accept that AI can replace fields built on creativity such as design, writing, and software. Yet they resist the idea of AI replacing roles with a heavy human, cultural, or physical component, even if those jobs might be easier to automate in theory.
The question, then, is not only what jobs AI can do, but which human qualities we are most willing to let go of.