9 White-Collar Jobs Being Quietly Eliminated by AI Right Now

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already replacing human workers, and some may argue that the current iteration of AI is just good enough to convince upper-level management to replace human workers, but the move is only benefiting AI companies. The AI bubble isn't just on the way. It has arrived, and you may need to prepare yourself financially for the devastation this could unleash on the economy.

Learn about the industries and jobs already fighting the AI replacement.

Editor's note: All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), unless otherwise stated.

Writers

Median annual salary: $72,270

Your favorite authors, journalists, and other writers are on the front lines of the fight against AI replacing humans. Generative AI Large Language Models (LLM) are able to generate predictive text faster than any human, but that doesn't necessarily make it good - or accurate.

Direct-to-consumer writers are the least likely to be replaced by AI in the long term, while grunt-work writing, such as taking notes at meetings, is already being outsourced to AI.

Artists

Median annual salary: $87,445 (data provided by Indeed)

Artists are suffering a similar situation as writers, in that their work was used without authorization to build AI image-generating software that is now being used instead of hiring human creatives. Resistance software called Glaze and Nightshade were developed for artists to use on their original works, which "poisons" the data and makes it unusable to AI data training sets.

That might stop the rest of their work from being used, but it doesn't help them replace income that is being lost as companies switch over to AI 'slop' models (mass-produced low-quality images). Consumers also hate seeing companies offering AI slop, and Coca-Cola faced widespread public backlash over its 2025 winter holiday advertisement featuring an AI-generated video.

Artists marketing directly to their fans are the least likely to be impacted by AI, while corporate work for commercials, advertisements, and promotional material is already being outsourced to cheaper AI alternatives.

Musicians

Median annual salary: $52,714 (data provided by Indeed)

Just like visual artists and writers, musicians have also had their work used without authorization for AI data-training sets, just to then have their jobs given to the companies that stole their work in the first place. New reporting by The Atlantic revealed four giant datasets of music being passed around AI development and included works used from Bad Bunny, Nirvana, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, the Beatles, and 20 million other tracks.

Income streams from licensed songs for advertising or other distribution are now being shunned by corporations in favor of AI music that doesn't require paying human musicians. Musical artists who already have a strong fan base are unlikely to be impacted by the rise of AI music.

Actors

Median hourly salary: $23.33

Your favorite actors and actresses are also fighting to keep their jobs against AI replacements. The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) labor union is demanding Congress pass the NO FAKES Act, which is an anti-deepfake bill that ensures every individual controls the rights over how their name and likeness are used.

AI was also a large focus of the 2023 union strike, with the actors' union and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) picketing strike lines until protections were in place to restrict AI and protect workers' rights. Members of SAG-AFTRA are the least likely to be impacted by AI deepfakes because of union protections. However, those trying to break into the profession and are not yet qualified to join the union are at risk of losing work to AI or of having the rights to their likeness taken as part of a contract.

Customer service representatives

Median annual salary: $42,830

It turns out there may be something worse than a phone tree of options routing callers to various departments, and that is the new AI "agent" answering customers who call in to customer service lines. Consumers already know human agents are being replaced, and arguing with a robot to get a real human isn't warming the general public up to the concept of AI. Several companies reduced their customer service staff in 2025, including major businesses such as Atlassian and Salesforce.

Managerial positions, escalation, and retention teams are likely to maintain work considered irreplaceable by AI because they require judgment calls and empathy to find solutions to outlier problems.

Translators and interpreters

Median annual salary: $59,440

Google Translate may be good enough to help individuals communicate across a language barrier, but it may be a poor replacement for human translators who are needed for accuracy. The translators working on movie and television adaptations or creating text and dialogue translations for video games have to capture more than just a direct word equivalent in a different language, and can't effectively be replaced by AI, but companies sure are trying anyway. Many workers in the field have already reported significant disruption in wages and working conditions that coincide with the rise of OpenAI.

Interpreters who provide real-time translations in courtrooms or medical settings are likely to have their roles preserved because of requirements for liability and privacy, as well as the need to understand non-verbal cues.

Financial and investment analysts

Median annual salary: $101,910

Research conducted by Datarails indicates pay is down on job listings in the financial sector, and 31% of employment postings reference AI or machine learning skills. The only role not impacted appears to be the CFO. It's not going well, either, as accounting and consulting firm Deloitte discovered. They submitted a document for the Australian government that was found to contain AI-generated errors, resulting in a refund of $290,000 of their payment for the work.

Repetitive tasks are already being replaced by AI, but human judgment is still required for roles that require building relationships with clients or making strategic internal decisions within a company. Roles that require negotiation are also likely to be preserved for human workers because AI is unable to weigh different priorities against desired outcomes.

Insurance agents

Median annual salary: $60,370

State Farm is facing public judgment after moving forward with major changes to implement AI into its workflow. Their human agents are losing health benefits and a long-term deferred compensation program that is utilized as a retirement benefit. Agents told the Wall Street Journal these changes could reduce their income by up to 40%, which is unsustainable for workers.

Commercial insurance agents are likely to have their jobs preserved because each case involves unique risk profiles along with complex negotiations on what is included in the contract. Estate planning agents are also likely to remain irreplaceable because any planning involving death requires deep empathy in order to work with grieving clients or to navigate around the existential dread of the inevitable.

Human resources specialists

Median annual salary: $72,910

Are we still able to call it human resources if it's powered by AI? Research done by Gartner found that 92% of HR leaders have already taken action to implement AI in their processes. It's not going well. This year, the popular AI human resource software Workday is facing legal action for discrimination bias found in how its AI sorted job applications.

A study out of Stanford followed 3.4 million applicants who submitted to 1,700 job postings across 150 employers and 11 industry sectors, and what they found is racial bias that shut people out of jobs everywhere they applied.

Bottom line

The AI impact is already here, and it could get worse before it gets better. There is significant structural concern about the impact of eliminating entry-level positions, which means a future headed for a shortage of senior talent in a few short years. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also projected that AI replacement could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years.

The bigger question companies should be asking is who pays for their services if the economy faces mass unemployment. People who are constantly struggling to get ahead financially are worried about things like food, shelter, and clean water, and are unlikely to be worried about AI services.