Takeover Tracker

The AI Anxiety Index

Media hype vs. actual job displacement risk. We cross-referenced 9,157 tagged article-occupation mentions from 124 news sources with our task-level AI risk scores and BLS employment data.

Media coverage vs. actual displacement risk

320 occupations
Source: Takeover Tracker news pipeline · BLS OEWS·AI Takeover Tracker
< $50k
$50k–$80k
$80k–$120k
$120k+
No data

Most Overhyped

Jobs getting disproportionate media attention relative to their actual risk score.

Software Developers, Applications
493 mentions35.6% risk
Computer Programmers
422 mentions34.4% risk
Software Developers, Systems Software
339 mentions35.4% risk

Most Underreported

Jobs with high actual risk but relatively little media coverage.

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
8 mentions58.9% risk
Insurance Policy Processing Clerks
9 mentions52.1% risk
Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
15 mentions52.5% risk
9,157
Articles Analyzed
relevant, tagged articles
320
Occupations Tracked
with 3+ mentions
113.7M
Workers Represented
BLS employment data
34.5%
Avg Risk Score
across tracked jobs

Key finding: The media's most-covered AI-risk job right now is Software Developers, Applications (493 mentions, 35.6% risk). Meanwhile Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks — at 58.9% risk — has only 8 mentions. The coverage is chasing familiar jobs, not the ones most exposed.

Sources

  • Media coverage — AI-and-workforce articles tagged to O*NET occupations from our 124-source news pipeline.
  • Risk scores — task-level automation exposure from our Capability Coverage Index (see methodology). Employment and salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS program.