AI may reshape jobs, but SWFL employers see limits

As workers and employers weigh the impact of artificial intelligence, researchers at Action Network have created a tool estimating the likelihood that 756 occupations will be replaced by AI at the state and national levels. 

“The biggest surprise for a lot of people is that this is not really about whether a job is high-paid or low-paid, or whether it requires a degree,” said Amy Harris, a researcher for the sports betting analysis company, in an email. “The real dividing line is whether the work happens on a screen or in the physical world.” 

It may be no surprise that AI is currently more capable of handling digital and text-based work than interpersonal situations. But the odds of replacement max out near 50%, suggesting that even the most at-risk positions include tasks that benefit from human judgment. 

According to Action Network’s analysis of Florida jobs, computer programmers have the highest odds of being replaced by AI (51%), followed by data entry keyers (41%), customer service representatives (35%) and medical records specialists (34%). 

Jobs, such as nurses (5%), restaurant servers (0%) and legislators (0%), have among the lowest implied odds of being replaced by AI. Their work tends to require an in-person presence while responding to situations in real time. That doesn’t suggest AI won’t play a significant role in their work, Harris added, only that their jobs are less likely to be replaced by AI. 

Action Network used public data from Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, that scores job titles based on how much their everyday tasks overlap with work computers can currently perform. 

“Think of it as: For each job, what percentage of the work could AI plausibly handle right now?” Harris said. 

The analysts then matched Anthropic’s job categories with government labor market data. They factored in state-level information, including wages and projected annual job growth. 

Then they used the data to create implied odds, at both the state and national levels, that any given job will be replaced by AI. 

Harris said the tool is designed to describe relative risk, not make exact predictions. For example, AI’s current capabilities overlap far more with those of a data entry clerk than a firefighter. 

“We would describe [the tool] as a well-informed starting point, not a crystal ball,” Harris said. 

The tool also is designed to indicate how exposed jobs are to AI today but does not include any timeline for future job losses. 

While Action Network’s study is aimed at the odds of job replacement, other analysts have focused on how AI could more broadly affect the workforce. 

“As with any emergent technology, AI will undoubtedly reshape Florida's workforce in some way, but I don't expect it to cause the mass job losses some have predicted,” said Edward Longe, director of national strategy and director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at The James Madison Institute, in an email. 

“The more likely near-term story is task automation rather than wholesale job replacement. AI handles the routine work, and employees focus on the higher-order judgment their roles actually require. That's a productivity story as much as a displacement story.” 

Longe added that AI also is expected to create demand for jobs, such as software developers, data center technicians and other tradespeople, needed to build AI infrastructure. 

“Florida is actually well-positioned to capture some of that growth,” he said. 

Lee County’s largest employer, the nonprofit hospital and healthcare system Lee Health, has widely embraced AI “as a tool to augment our workforce rather than replace it,” Media Relations Manager Jaclyn Bevis said in an email. 

“Like previous technological shifts, AI will change how work gets done, particularly for repetitive and computer-based tasks, but it does not replace the need for human judgment, compassion and clinical expertise.” 

Lee Health provides about 16,500 jobs, a Florida Gulf Coast University study released in March shows. Nurses make up its largest employee group. The system also employs medical assistants, customer service representatives, therapists, technicians, pharmacists, physicians, finance analysts and coders. 

Bevis did not specify how AI could affect individual positions. She said that Lee Health has more broadly found that a “human-in-the-loop model,” with AI supporting employees by improving efficiency and reducing administrative tasks, helps care teams spend more time focusing on patients, collaboration and complex decision-making. 

“Our approach to AI is not centered on job elimination,” Bevis wrote. “We recognize that some roles will evolve, and we believe organizations have a responsibility to invest in their people as roles and technology advance.” 

Lee County Manager Dave Harner also emphasized that AI is not seen as a means of reducing the county government workforce. It includes more than 9,950 employees, according to FGCU’s recent count. 

“Lee County Government is using AI and will continue to do so, but it’s important to note that it’s another tool in the toolbox — not replacing jobs,” Harner said. “It’s a tool for the county to use to make us more efficient, streamline operations and ensure consistency across all two dozen departments.” 

Naples-based author, AI researcher and business management consultant Michael E. McGrath predicts that millions of employees in the U.S. will be displaced over the next decade as AI — along with advanced robotics — becomes increasingly capable of performing both manual and cognitive work. 

In his book, The Great AI Displacement, independently published in 2026, McGrath hypothesizes that AI will lead to extraordinary productivity and social benefits but may also result in a period of rising unemployment, peaking after 2035, because of both slowing hiring and direct job replacement. 

McGrath also suggests that job losses will be concentrated in tech-heavy regions, such as Silicon Valley, and among corporations that have invested heavily in expensive AI systems. 

“Companies and governments have to step back and consider, how do we usher in this age of AI without killing our economy and ushering in a depression?” he said. 

McGrath’s solutions include embracing AI instead of rejecting it, which he believes puts businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and “using AI’s productivity gains to reduce the hours of work rather than the number of workers.”