The jobs people most often ask AI will replace
Worry index: how often people search whether AI will replace each job, since ChatGPT launched (November 2022 onward), on a scale where programmers = 100. Higher means more people are asking, not that the job is more at risk. Click a job for its full report.
Source: Google Trends, worldwide, Nov 2022 – Oct 2026. Grey rows: too few searches for a steady monthly signal. The percentage next to each value is the change in the last 12 months vs the 12 months before, shown only where the earlier year had data in at least 6 months.
Worry about AI taking jobs is at a record
Worldwide searches for “will AI replace” in 2026 run at 2.5 times their 2023 level and peaked in the week of 8 March 2026. It's not a ChatGPT-launch spike that faded: the curve kept climbing through 2025 and 2026.
Searches about AI and jobs, worldwide
Weekly, relative to the highest week (= 100). Hover or use the arrow keys for values.
Source: Google Trends.
Programmers worried first. Teachers and doctors now worry more.
Searches asking whether AI will replace programmers peaked in March 2024, the month an AI “software engineer” called Devin was announced, and are −12% on a year ago. For teachers, doctors and lawyers, worried searches climbed to new highs in 2026.
Will AI replace…, by job
Monthly. Programmers' average since November 2022 = 100.
Source: Google Trends.
Fewer people search how to become a programmer. More search how to become an electrician.
“How to become a …” searches are a rough signal of who wants into a job. Comparing the last 12 months with the year before ChatGPT, they fell for 19 of the 49 jobs with enough data: most of all in tech and writing. They rose for the trades.
Change in “how to become …” searches
Last 12 months vs November 2021 – October 2022. The 10 biggest rises and the 10 biggest drops.
Show the data as a table
| Job | How-to-become term | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeepers | how to become a bookkeeper | +92% |
| Musicians | how to become a musician | +91% |
| Plumbers | how to become a plumber | +74% |
| Mechanics | how to become a mechanic | +71% |
| Electricians | how to become an electrician | +67% |
| Paralegals | how to become a paralegal | +53% |
| Radiologists | how to become a radiologist | +50% |
| Receptionists | how to become a receptionist | +39% |
| Social workers | how to become a social worker | +31% |
| Project managers | how to become a project manager | +27% |
| Nurses | how to become a nurse | +26% |
| Engineers | how to become an engineer | +25% |
| Accountants | how to become an accountant | +24% |
| Insurance agents | how to become an insurance agent | +24% |
| Professors | how to become a professor | +23% |
| Tutors | how to become a tutor | +23% |
| Voice actors | how to become a voice actor | +22% |
| Therapists | how to become a therapist | +19% |
| Dentists | how to become a dentist | +18% |
| Artists | how to become an artist | +17% |
| Teachers | how to become a teacher | +16% |
| Product managers | how to become a product manager | +15% |
| Actuaries | how to become an actuary | +13% |
| Lawyers | how to become a lawyer | +12% |
| Consultants | how to become a consultant | +11% |
| Chefs | how to become a chef | +11% |
| Financial advisors | how to become a financial advisor | +7% |
| Journalists | how to become a journalist | +7% |
| Truck drivers | how to become a truck driver | +6% |
| Data analysts | how to become a data analyst | +3% |
| Psychologists | how to become a psychologist | −2% |
| Pharmacists | how to become a pharmacist | −5% |
| Writers | how to become a writer | −6% |
| Doctors | how to become a doctor | −10% |
| Photographers | how to become a photographer | −10% |
| Architects | how to become an architect | −15% |
| Recruiters | how to become a recruiter | −16% |
| Actors | how to become an actor | −16% |
| Animators | how to become an animator | −18% |
| Data scientists | how to become a data scientist | −27% |
| Real estate agents | how to become a real estate agent | −27% |
| Marketers | how to become a marketer | −32% |
| Graphic designers | how to become a graphic designer | −32% |
| Translators | how to become a translator | −33% |
| Software engineers | how to become a software engineer | −41% |
| Programmers | how to become a programmer | −51% |
| Web developers | how to become a web developer | −51% |
| UX designers | how to become a UX designer | −57% |
| Copywriters | how to become a copywriter | −72% |
Source: Google Trends, worldwide, weekly. Each job is compared with itself, so the percentages are comparable across jobs; the volumes are not.
For most jobs, people look for AI help far more than they worry
For each job: searches for “AI for …” (and “ChatGPT for …”) per search asking whether AI will replace it, since November 2022. Programmers come out low (2.6), probably because they search “AI for coding” or “AI for programming” rather than “AI for programmers”: these are search habits, not surveys.
Source: Google Trends. Jobs with too few worried searches are left out. “AI for customer service” includes businesses shopping for AI support tools.
“AI-proof jobs” went from a niche search to a mainstream one
In 2026 searches for “AI proof jobs” average 25.5 times their 2023 level and “jobs safe from AI” 14.1 times. In the US, the alternatives people look up have grown too: “apprenticeship” +90%, “trade school” +80% and “career change” +140% on 2023.
“Learn AI” overtook “learn to code” in July 2023
For a decade “learn to code” was the standard career advice. Since July 2023 “learn AI” has out-searched it in most months, and “AI course” now leads them all.
“Learn to code” vs “learn AI”, worldwide
Monthly since 2015. 100 = the highest month for any of five learning searches, led by “AI course”.
Source: Google Trends.
Where people ask most whether AI will replace them
US states
Searches for “will AI replace”, share of all searches in each state, highest = 100. Past five years.
Show the data as a table
| State | Interest |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 100 |
| Wyoming | 94 |
| Kansas | 84 |
| New York | 78 |
| Utah | 78 |
| Maryland | 78 |
| Washington | 78 |
| Colorado | 78 |
| Massachusetts | 73 |
| California | 73 |
| Hawaii | 73 |
| Virginia | 68 |
| New Jersey | 68 |
| New Hampshire | 68 |
| Connecticut | 68 |
| Idaho | 68 |
| Texas | 68 |
| Georgia | 68 |
| Minnesota | 68 |
| Arizona | 63 |
| Michigan | 63 |
| Illinois | 63 |
| Pennsylvania | 63 |
| Oregon | 63 |
| Missouri | 63 |
| Wisconsin | 57 |
| Nevada | 57 |
| Oklahoma | 57 |
| Indiana | 57 |
| Rhode Island | 57 |
| North Carolina | 57 |
| Tennessee | 57 |
| South Carolina | 57 |
| Delaware | 57 |
| Louisiana | 57 |
| Montana | 52 |
| Kentucky | 52 |
| Ohio | 52 |
| Iowa | 52 |
| Florida | 52 |
| Nebraska | 52 |
| Maine | 52 |
| Mississippi | 52 |
| Arkansas | 52 |
| New Mexico | 47 |
| West Virginia | 47 |
| Alabama | 42 |
| Vermont | 42 |
| South Dakota | 42 |
| North Dakota | 36 |
| Alaska | 31 |
Countries
Same search worldwide since 2022, highest country = 100 (very small territories left out).
Source: Google Trends. Interest is relative to all searches in each place, so small places with a few curious people can rank high.
What people actually type
The top searches related to “will AI replace”, worldwide since 2022.
- jobs ai will replace
- ai jobs
- what will ai replace
- what jobs will ai replace
- will ai replace you
- ai will replace humans
- ai will replace programmers
- will ai replace engineers
- jobs that ai will replace
- which jobs will ai replace
- will ai replace me
- will ai replace it jobs
- will ai replace doctors
- will ai replace developers
- will ai replace teachers
How we measured it, and what it can't tell you
Source. All numbers come from Google Trends, collected on 31 October 2026 for November 2020 to October 2026 (worldwide unless noted). Trends reports relative interest: each chart is scaled so its highest point = 100, from a sample of Google searches.
One scale for every job. For each job we combine the common ways of asking, for example “AI replace accountants”, “AI replace accountant” and “accountants replaced by AI” (Trends counts any search containing those words, so “will AI replace accountants” and “can AI replace an accountant” both count). Every Trends comparison also holds the same question about programmers, so we can put all 56 jobs on one scale: a job's worry index is its searches divided by the programmers searches on the same page, with programmers' average since November 2022 = 100. “AI for …” searches use the same method with, for example, “AI for accountants”, “AI for accountant” and “ChatGPT for accountants”. Cybersecurity analysts, administrative assistants and customer service use two of the three phrasings, because of Trends' 100-character limit or because one phrasing already contained another.
Getting in. “How to become a …” searches are measured on their own (each job against itself), weekly over five years, and compared as a percentage change between the last 12 months and November 2021 – October 2022, the year before ChatGPT.
Limits. This measures attention, not risk: a job can be widely discussed and safe, or rarely discussed and exposed. Broad job titles absorb narrower ones (“engineers” includes searches about software engineers). Some titles share words with software (“editor”, “illustrator”) or other things (“pilot”), so we left editors, illustrators, video editors and pilots out. Jobs marked “few searches” have data in fewer than 12 of the 48 months since ChatGPT; treat them as rough. Search habits vary by job and language, and the data is mostly English.
Collected by hand. Google doesn't allow bots on Trends pages, so a person opened each of the 96 Trends comparisons and saved what the page showed.
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Questions
What jobs will AI replace?
Nobody can say for certain, and search data can't either. What it can show is which jobs people worry about. Across 56 jobs we tracked, people most often ask whether AI will replace engineers, teachers, doctors, programmers and software engineers. Worried searches rose in the last 12 months for 30 of the 31 jobs with enough data to compare.
Which jobs are safe from AI?
No list can promise that. Interest in the question is rising fast: searches for “AI proof jobs” in 2026 run at about 25.5 times their 2023 level. In the US, searches for “apprenticeship” are up 90% and “trade school” 80% on 2023, and “how to become” searches for electricians (+67%), plumbers (+74%), mechanics (+71%) have risen since 2022.
Is worry about AI taking jobs growing?
Yes. Worldwide searches for “will AI replace” in 2026 average 2.5 times their 2023 level, and hit their highest point in the week of 8 March 2026.
How is the AI Job Worry Index calculated?
From Google Trends, November 2020 to October 2026. For each job we combine the ways people ask (“will AI replace accountants”, “can AI replace an accountant”, “will accountants be replaced by AI”) and compare it, on the same Trends page, with the same question about programmers. That puts every job on one scale where programmers = 100. The details are in the methodology section.
Can I use this data?
Yes. The data is free under CC BY 4.0: download the CSV, embed the charts, and credit “Scrollytelling AI Job Worry Index” with a link to this page.
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