Can AI do your job? These Miami workers are the most exposed
AI probably can’t do your job. But it might be able to do some of it.
Current AI models can, in theory, do work equivalent to 360,000 employees in the Miami metro area, according to a new labor exposure map out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. That’s to say that a current AI model could perform some of the tasks that make up lots of local jobs. It’s not to say it could replace their current human jobholders.
Because there are some tasks only a human can do — or, at least, do well. Some jobs have more of those tasks; others have more automatable ones.
Customer service representatives, marketing specialists, administrative assistants, accountants and computer programmers are among the most exposed workers — meaning a large percentage of their daily tasks can be done by AI, the MIT map shows. Thousands of greater Miami residents work in those fields, which raises the question — will those jobs still exist in the near future?
But regardless of how AI-exposed your job is, knowing which tasks can be automated and which can’t will help you free up time to focus on high-value, human-only work, said Pierre Bouquet, a Ph.D candidate at MIT who studies the future of work and is one of the map’s creators.
The relevant question, then, isn’t necessarily whether AI can do your job. It’s which parts of your job can AI do, and what that frees you up to focus on.
But some workers, particularly new workforce entrants between the ages of 22 and 25 in AI-exposed fields, might not even have the chance to ask that question. Their jobs, which often consist of more automatable tasks, are most exposed and, data shows, most quickly being scrapped.
What’s a job, anyway?
You might consider a job the source of your income. You dedicate a certain number of hours of your life to it each week. Maybe you like it. Maybe you don’t.
But economists think about your job as a collection of tasks that create some sort of value.
A teacher, for instance, lectures a class. They also grade tests, prepare lessons, manage classroom dynamics and help individual students with things they don’t understand.
Maybe AI could help a teacher grade a multiple-choice test or put together a lesson plan. That’s what researchers call “AI exposure.” But it can’t manage a class. Nor can it show the care, interest and dynamism that make a good teacher a good teacher. It’s not a substitute.
But in offloading a select few of those responsibilities to AI — rather than being replaced by it entirely — the teacher, or any worker, for that matter, could have more time to focus on human-only tasks, said Bouquet.
Those areas are where humans can create the most value, where they have the greatest edge, said Bouquet. Ultimately, he added, “a human and an AI work best together, not separately.”
If you compiled all the tasks carried out in the American economy that current AI models can complete, it’d be equivalent to roughly 18 million full-time U.S. workers. In the Miami metro area, that figure’s closer to 360,000, or 14% of the local workforce.
However, that number is based on all businesses adopting and efficiently integrating AI systems into their operations, an assumption that’s far from reality.
Currently, only one in five American businesses with employees report having used AI in the last six months, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. More than half said they had no plans to use AI in the near future, while only 22% said they thought there’d be a place for AI in their work before the year’s end.
Who’s at risk?
Certain jobs have greater AI exposure than others. That doesn’t mean those workers could or should be replaced, but it does mean some of their tasks can be automated.
Customer service representatives, marketing specialists and computer programmers are among the most exposed workers, according to the MIT study.
More locally in South Florida, the bilingual professional services sector — legal, accounting, insurance — may be particularly exposed, given how much of that work involves document review, translation and routine client communication that AI handles well, said Javier Donna, an economics professor at University of Miami’s Herbert Business School.
And while professionals in those fields might not see their jobs axed, entry-level workers between the ages of 22 and 25 are having a hard time breaking into those sectors, said Donna.
Since late 2022, employment rates for early-career workers in the most AI-exposed occupations have dropped 16%, a Stanford study published late last year found.
Mass layoffs are unlikely. More probable is a “quiet contraction,” in hiring, particularly for entry-level workers, said Donna. That poses specific risks for young professional aspirants looking to lock down stable, middle-class careers.
Losing the opportunity to train and network in the formative stages of one’s career could shut someone out that career path entirely. “If AI compresses that apprenticeship layer, the career ladder becomes harder to climb, even for college graduates,” Donna said.
What to do
If you’re in the early stages of figuring out your career, you might consider the implications of MIT’s AI exposure map — tasks and jobs that demand traits like creativity, interpersonal skills and adaptive thinking might be hardest for AI to replicate. Leveraging AI for the tasks that it can do, while excelling at the work that it can’t, can give you an edge, said Bouquet.
But policymakers need to give current and coming workers the chance to compete.
“Without guardrails, market incentives push toward substitution” rather than collaboration, said Donna.
Locally, governments and institutions, like schools, need to invest in training people to work alongside AI rather than compete with it, he said. That means infusing school curricula and workforce programs with material to strengthen AI-complementary skills.
It also means monitoring where entry-level positions are disappearing and pushing schools, particularly colleges, and job-training programs to adjust what sectors they’re funneling people into.
“Now is the time for this conversation in Miami,” said Donna.
This story was produced with financial support from supporters including The Green Family Foundation Trust and Ken O’Keefe, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.
