As Artificial Intelligence (AI) raises concerns about job displacement, some experts believe it may bring unexpected health benefits by fueling a shift from sedentary careers to more physically active roles.

Humans expend three-to-five times less energy today than they did 100 years ago, according to research out of the University of Sydney in Australia. 

A significant contributor to the decline in physical activity was the Digital Revolution in the ‘80s and ‘90s, which transferred many occupations from relatively mobile, including standing, walking, and lifting, to sedentary and screen-based.

“We were designed to sit briefly to rest during a dynamic day,” Dr. James Levine, a renowned endocrinologist, obesity researcher and professor at Mayo Clinic, told Just the News exclusively. “Modern work reversed that pattern.”

Today, about 3 in 4 U.S. adults are classified as overweight or obese – conditions linked to lack of sufficient exercise.

While the rapid growth of AI has sparked concern over job security, labor data suggests it will replace some jobs contributing to Americans' poor health.

Office and administrative support roles, customer service, data entry, and telemarketing – some of the most sedentary jobs – are the ones most quickly being replaced with AI technologies.

From a health standpoint, this may not be all bad, according to experts.

“A sedentary career is not neutral,” Levine said. “It demands that the human body spend years switched off,” bringing debilitating results. 

“Prolonged sitting reduces everyday energy expenditure and leaves many of the body’s largest muscles inactive for hours at a time,” he continued. “Excess sitting is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline, physical disability and premature death.

“The consequences are not only metabolic. People can lose strength, mobility, vitality and the natural rhythm of movement. Sedentary work can also contribute to stiffness, discomfort and social isolation.”

AI increasingly replacing digital work may push America’s workforce from low-movement jobs toward more complex, hands-on occupations that are not so easily automated.

According to Labor Department estimates, careers with the highest projected growth rates over the next decade are centered on technical work and the skilled trades, such as wind turbine service technicians (50%) and solar photovoltaic installers (42%), and health-related occupations like nurse practitioners (40%), and physical therapist assistants (22%).

Other jobs with notable projected growth are home health and personal care aides (17%), occupational therapy (19%) and physician assistants (20%).

Such occupations often involve higher levels of physical activity.

AI could even, surprisingly, replace one of the nation's most sedentary jobs. 

The obesity rate for truck drivers – 50-to-69% – is roughly double that of the rest of U.S. working population – the result of being seated for up to 70 hours a week driving freight cross-country. 

Now, using AI technologies, companies like Aurora, Gatik, and PepsiCo are testing self-driving semi-trucks in such states as Arizona, Arkansas and Texas.

The automation of many sedentary jobs may also reduce remote work opportunities, which are linked to weight gain due to limited physical exertion and easy access to home kitchens. 

Levine says that a shift from a mainly sedentary job to one involving regular standing, walking and lifting can make a huge impact on overall health. 

“Moving from a chair-bound job to one that includes standing and walking can change the physiology of the entire day,” he told JTN.

“Muscles switch on. Energy expenditure rises. Circulation and physical function are supported. Regular movement may also improve the way the body handles glucose and fat, while helping preserve balance, strength and mobility.”

Jobs involving regular movement are crucial, according to Dr. Levine, who invented the treadmill desk. He warned that even a daily workout is not enough to combat the effects of a mostly-sedentary career.

“Much of daily energy expenditure does not come from sport or formal exercise," he said. "It comes from what we call non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT. This includes standing, walking, household activity, shopping, commuting and movement at work. When a person sits all day, this component of energy expenditure becomes very low.

“A daily workout is advocated and valuable, but it does not cancel the harm of remaining sedentary for the rest of the day.

Although the obesity epidemic in America is not attributed solely to lack of exercise, a key way of combatting excessive weight is through increased physical activity. 

These AI workforce trends come amidst rising concerns over a sick, overweight American populace, which the Trump administration has sought to address through the promotion of physical activity.

Last year, U.S. Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced rigorous fitness requirements for all members of the U.S. military, while Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched Get Active, a program that encourages Americans to get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week.

President Trump also reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test, a set of standardized benchmarks for cardio, core strength, and upper-body performance to encourage high standards for America’s youth.