Will AI replace actuaries?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 41m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI that people use as a helper. The other 7h 19m (91%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 9.2% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 1 of 15 tasks, about 41m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Provide advice to clients on a contract basis, working as a consultant. (41m a shift, people use AI to help)

7h 19m of a typical shift, or 91%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Ascertain premium rates required and cash reserves and liabilities necessary to ensure payment of future benefits. (1h 40m a shift)
• Analyze statistical information to estimate mortality, accident, sickness, disability, and retirement rates. (1h 28m a shift)
• Design, review, and help administer insurance, annuity and pension plans, determining financial soundness and calculating premiums. (1h 10m a shift)
• Collaborate with programmers, underwriters, accounts, claims experts, and senior management to help companies develop plans for new lines of business or improvements to existing business. (1h 4m a shift)
• Determine, or help determine, company policy, and explain complex technical matters to company executives, government officials, shareholders, policyholders, or the public. (47m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 64% talk face to face with others every day

For the 1 task in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 4h 32m for a person alone and about 54m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Provide advice to clients on a contract basis, working as a consultant (about 4h 32m alone, 54m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Insurance sector are at 127% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 5.1% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 1,500 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour), 155% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $78,570 and $215,100 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 9.2% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 34,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 1,500 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 27,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.02% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 498th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 34,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a bachelor's degree: about 79% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 4 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: bachelor's degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Mathematics, Systems Evaluation, Judgment and Decision Making, Systems Analysis
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 19m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Tableau, Structured query language SQL, SAS, R, Python
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Economists (3h 39m touched, $125k median pay)
• Business Intelligence Analysts (6h 5m touched, $120k median pay)
• Personal Financial Advisors (3h 4m touched, $105k median pay)
• Accountants and Auditors (2h 42m touched, $84k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 1 observed in real AI use, 14 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.