--- title: "Will AI Replace Computer User Support Specialists?" description: "BLS rates computer user support specialists' exposure to AI as very high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook…" canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-computer-user-support-specialists" last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z" --- # Will AI Replace Computer User Support Specialists? (2026) **Short answer:** This is one of the most exposed jobs, and BLS projects it to shrink. Exposure is not a forecast of job loss on its own, but here the two point the same way. The Bureau of Labor Statistics places computer user support specialists in its very high AI exposure category, among the occupations most exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to fall by 3.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 39,700 openings a year. | Measure | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | BLS relative AI exposure | Very high | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories | | NueCareer AI-resilience score | 30/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database | | Projected employment change | -3.5% | BLS EP 2025–2035 | | Openings a year | 39,700 | BLS EP 2025–2035 | | Median annual wage | $61,860 | BLS OEWS May 2025 | ## Exposure categories | BLS category | Occupations | | --- | --- | | Low | 203 | | Moderate | 194 | | High | 190 | | Very high (this job) | 199 | Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm ## What holds up - Face-to-face discussions: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work context) - Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context) - Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Making decisions and solving problems: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) ## What AI reaches first - Processing information: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Working with computers: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Documenting/recording information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance) - Email: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work context) ## O\*NET tasks - Read technical manuals, confer with users, or conduct computer diagnostics to investigate and resolve problems or to provide technical assistance and support. - Confer with staff, users, and management to establish requirements for new systems or modifications. - Develop training materials and procedures, or train users in the proper use of hardware or software. - Set up equipment for employee use, performing or ensuring proper installation of cables, operating systems, or appropriate software. - Answer user inquiries regarding computer software or hardware operation to resolve problems. - Install and perform minor repairs to hardware, software, or peripheral equipment, following design or installation specifications. ## Related careers less exposed to AI than computer user support specialists - [Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-automated-teller-and-office-machine-repairer): BLS exposure High, median $47,810 ## FAQ **Will AI replace computer user support specialists?** This is one of the most exposed jobs, and BLS projects it to shrink. Exposure is not a forecast of job loss on its own, but here the two point the same way. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to fall by 3.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 39,700 openings a year. **How exposed are computer user support specialists to AI?** BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Computer User Support Specialists are in the very high category, alongside 198 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk. **What parts of a computer user support specialist's job can AI do?** In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are processing information, working with computers and documenting/recording information. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, hands-on work with tools and objects and establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method. **Is being a computer user support specialist a safe career from AI?** On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, computer user support specialists score 30 out of 100, higher than 23% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $61,860 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing. **What careers similar to computer user support specialists are less exposed to AI?** Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairer (high exposure, $47,810 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than computer user support specialists, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work. Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-user-support-specialist. --- This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology