The 25 UK jobs least exposed to AI

These are the 25 occupations with the lowest AI exposure scores among the 293 UK occupations in our index. Low exposure means the abilities the job relies on overlap least with what current AI applications can do. It does not guarantee a job is safe from all change.

#	Occupation	AI exposure	Index rank	Median FT pay (2020)	Employee jobs
1	Roofers, roof tilers and slaters	1/100 (Very low)	#293 of 293	£26,989	14,000
2	Elementary construction occupations	1/100 (Very low)	#292 of 293	£24,189	66,000
3	Vehicle valeters and cleaners	2/100 (Very low)	#291 of 293	£19,976	12,000
4	Cleaners and domestics	2/100 (Very low)	#290 of 293	£17,899	508,000
5	Floorers and wall tilers	2/100 (Very low)	#289 of 293	£27,376	10,000
6	Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers	3/100 (Very low)	#288 of 293	£17,396	16,000
7	Painters and decorators	4/100 (Very low)	#287 of 293	£25,617	21,000
8	Fork-lift truck drivers	4/100 (Very low)	#286 of 293	£25,741	24,000
9	Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers	4/100 (Very low)	#285 of 293	£20,257	94,000
10	Gardeners and landscape gardeners	4/100 (Very low)	#284 of 293	£21,468	42,000
11	Road construction operatives	5/100 (Very low)	#283 of 293	£30,535	19,000
12	Elementary process plant occupations n.e.c.	5/100 (Very low)	#282 of 293	£22,385	88,000
13	Tyre, exhaust and windscreen fitters	5/100 (Very low)	#281 of 293	£22,278	15,000
14	Industrial cleaning process occupations	6/100 (Very low)	#280 of 293	£20,406	14,000
15	Street cleaners	6/100 (Very low)	#279 of 293	£20,244	6,000
16	Vehicle paint technicians	6/100 (Very low)	#278 of 293	£29,827	7,000
17	Butchers	7/100 (Very low)	#277 of 293	£22,697	30,000
18	Farm workers	7/100 (Very low)	#276 of 293	£22,924	43,000
19	Process operatives n.e.c.	7/100 (Very low)	#275 of 293	£27,800	6,000
20	Textile process operatives	8/100 (Very low)	#274 of 293	£23,719	10,000
21	Scaffolders, stagers and riggers	8/100 (Very low)	#273 of 293	£34,176	14,000
22	Large goods vehicle drivers	8/100 (Very low)	#272 of 293	£30,820	200,000
23	Sewing machinists	9/100 (Very low)	#271 of 293	£18,967	17,000
24	Fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations n.e.c.	9/100 (Very low)	#270 of 293	£21,249	20,000
25	Bar staff	10/100 (Very low)	#269 of 293	£18,144	107,000

How this ranking was made

Sorted by the Department for Education (2023) AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE, all AI applications) score, lowest first. Covers all 293 SOC 2010 occupations in the UK AI Job-Risk Index (every occupation with a DfE exposure score and published ONS ASHE 2020 jobs and pay figures).

Index rank: 1 = most exposed of the 293 occupations. Exposure measures how much a job's abilities overlap with current AI applications; it is not a forecast of job losses. Sources: Department for Education (2023), The impact of AI on UK jobs and training; ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2020, Table 14. Full methodology · Compare jobs

More rankings: The 25 UK jobs most exposed to AI · Lower AI-exposure UK jobs that don’t usually need a degree · The best-paid UK jobs with below-average AI exposure