Dive Brief:

Insurance underwriters are the most likely to be replaced by automation in the near future, according to Carl Frey co-director of the Oxford Martin program on technology and employment at Oxford University, who published a study on the topic.

Real estate brokers, loan officers and credit analysts were not far behind. Each of the occupations had more than a 97% chance of becoming completely automated within 10 years, according to Frey.

Physicians and surgeons, sales engineers and dietitians and nutritionists were at the bottom of the list, indicating those positions would be harder to replace with automation.

It isnt a big surprise that the insurance industry is at the top of the list. There are many areas within the insurance industry ripe for automation, and businesses within the ultra-competitive industry are always on the lookout for ways to save money.

Last month, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance in Japan said it was already replacing some human insurance claim workers with an artificial intelligence-based system from IBM. Fukoku said the system will replace 34 human insurance claim workers, saving it $1.1 million per year on employee salaries.

A recentForrester reportpredicted automation supported by intelligent software agents will be on the rise in the next five years, accounting for the elimination of a net 6% of U.S. jobs.

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Automation expected to displace insurance underwriters, real estate brokers - CIO Dive