Artificial intelligence and AI-powered robots are now capable of performing more than half of all work hours in the United States, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute.
The report found that although the vast majority of human skills will remain relevant in an era of large-scale automation, the way people use those skills is expected to change.
McKinsey’s analysis concludes that today’s AI systems and workplace robots could automate 57% of U.S. work hours without any further breakthroughs in technology, provided companies redesign their workflows around automation. At current levels of capability, AI agents could perform tasks that occupy 44% of U.S. work hours today, and robots could account for 13%.
“Extending automation further would require technologies that can match a range of human capabilities currently unmatched,” McKinsey analysts said in the report. “Agents would need to interpret intention and emotion. Robots would need to master fine motor control, such as grasping delicate objects or manipulating instruments in surgery.”
The report shows that nearly 40% of U.S. jobs are occupations that involve daily tasks that could be automated by software alone, such as administrative support, paralegal work, office roles, and certain programming jobs.
“Tasks occupying more than half of current work hours could potentially be automated, primarily by agents,” the analysts state.
U.S. government projections show flat or declining employment in several tech-exposed fields — including administrative support occupations, paralegals and legal assistants, and computer programmers.
“Software innovations have automated many of the tasks performed by bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks,” reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “As a result, the same amount of work can be done with fewer employees, which is expected to lead to job losses over the projections decade.”
Instead of replacing workers outright, AI is more likely to reshape jobs by absorbing routine or time-consuming tasks while leaving humans to perform higher-value work, McKinsey analysts said. Workers would spend less time gathering information or preparing documents and more time guiding AI tools, reviewing outputs, making decisions, and handling tasks that require judgment, empathy, or improvisation. “Yet, that does not mean half of all jobs would disappear; many would change as specific tasks are automated, shifting what people do rather than eliminating the work itself.”
“A skills partnership is emerging: Machines handle routine tasks while people frame problems, provide guidance to AI agents and robots, interpret results, and make decisions,” the analysts stated. “The work blends collaboration and oversight, as humans bring judgment and contextual understanding that machines still lack.”
McKinsey identifies a set of “people-centric” roles — such as nursing, caregiving, building repair, and front-line maintenance — that remain largely resistant to automation because they rely on physical presence, dexterity, and emotional intelligence.
The report estimates that about 70% of caregiving tasks still require hands-on human abilities that current AI agents and robots cannot replicate. Similarly, maintenance, construction, and other jobs carried out in unpredictable physical environments show low technical automatability; more than 80% of their hours involve physical tasks robots cannot yet replicate.
The report also found that AI could create significant economic gains if companies redesign entire workflows rather than automating individual tasks.
Other research suggests bumpy AI adoption and questionable benefits.
A September analysis by the Harvard Business Review found that many companies are seeing early declines in productivity as employees rely excessively on generative AI to produce “low-effort” drafts that require colleagues to redo or reinterpret the work, a pattern researchers labeled “workslop.”
Naveen Athrappully contributed to this report.