Bill Gates adds a fourth profession that he believes will survive Artificial Intelligence
The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the global job market and raising questions about the future of many professions. However, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates believes that some fields will remain indispensable even in the age of automation. After previously stating that programmers, biologists and energy workers will continue to play a key role, Gates has now added a fourth category to the list of professions that, according to him, will not be replaced by machines: professional athletes.
During an interview on Jimmy Fallon's show, he said that sports will remain an activity reserved for humans. "You know, like baseball. We wouldn't want to see computers playing baseball," Gates said, implying that sports competitions will continue to rely on human skill and competition. However, he gave a response that has sparked debate when asked whether humans will continue to be needed in most professions. "Not for most things — we'll decide," he declared, adding that the production of goods, transportation and food cultivation could be widely automated in the future.
Meanwhile, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the job market is becoming increasingly apparent. According to a study published in 2025 by Microsoft, many professions have a high overlap with the capabilities of AI systems, meaning that a significant portion of their tasks could be performed by automated tools.
Among the professions most exposed to this transformation are translators and interpreters, historians, mathematicians, text editors, automatic code generation programmers, writers, statistical analysis assistants, sales representatives, technical writers and journalists. However, researchers emphasize that this does not necessarily mean that these professions will disappear, but that Artificial Intelligence is expected to take over some of their tasks and change the way these jobs are performed.
The professions with the greatest overlap with AI skills are:
Translators and interpreters (98%)
Historians (91%)
Mathematicians (91%)
Text editors (91%)
Automatic code generation programmers (90%)
Writers and literary figures (85%)
Statistical analysis assistants (85%)
Salespeople and commercial representatives (84%)
Technical writers (83%)
Journalists (81%)
