Nearly three years since ChatGPT was introduced to the world, the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence has hardly waned — especially in the job market.

On Google, searches for “AI jobs” have surged in recent months, reaching their highest level since May 2023 in January 2025.

Companies are racing to keep up with the rapid pace of AI, and workers are scrambling to learn what it means for their day-to-day routine — or if they’ll lose their jobs to a smarter, faster chatbot. 

But AI could be creating more work opportunities than it takes. The World Economic Forum predicted in 2020 that by the end of 2025, AI could replace around 85 million jobs, but it will also generate approximately 97 million new roles.

Here are 5 of the fastest-growing jobs in AI, according to data from ZipRecruiter and Indeed exclusively shared with CNBC Make It (salary data is from ZipRecruiter): 

• Artificial intelligence engineers
  Median salary: $106,386
  Median salary for top 10% of earners: $156,000
• Artificial intelligence consultant
  Median salary: $113,566
  Median salary for top 10% of earners: $144,000
• Artificial intelligence researcher
  Median salary: $113,102
  Median salary for top 10% of earners: $154,000
• Artificial intelligence trainer
  Median salary: $64,984
  Median salary for top 10% of earners: $93,500
• Artificial intelligence product manager
  Median salary: $103,178
  Median salary for top 10% of earners: $175,000

To identify these roles, ZipRecruiter and Indeed tracked AI job openings and growth trends throughout 2024, looking at the volume of postings and the increasing share of AI-specific job listings.

All five of the jobs on this list offer remote opportunities. Three of the roles – AI engineer, AI consultant and AI researcher – are also featured in LinkedIn’s recent “Jobs on the Rise” report, which highlighted the jobs that saw the most hiring between 2022 and 2024.

Companies like Meta, Netflix and Amazon have hired more workers to develop and train AI models in recent years, even offering salaries as high as $900,000.

AI’s sudden boom has also sparked a wave of investment in hiring across non-tech industries including retail, finance, health care and education, ZipRecruiter chief economist Julia Pollak tells CNBC Make It. 

The most sought-after AI jobs companies are hiring for aren’t all concentrated in engineering, as you might expect.

Generative AI has led to the creation of a variety of new jobs that support its more creative and complex aspects. These include roles like AI fact-checkers, content moderators, trainers, and compliance managers — all essential for ensuring that the technology works effectively and ethically.

While some AI jobs, including AI engineering, require a bachelor’s degree, a growing number of roles place a higher emphasis on technical skills and work samples. 

Some of the most common skills listed in AI job requirements include coding, software development and writing, according to ZipRecruiter.

Skills-based hiring is a trend that has staying power in the AI job market, Ryan Sutton, executive director of the technology practice at the recruitment firm Robert Half, told CNBC Make It last year. 

“Especially in a space that’s evolving as quickly as AI, there’s a lot of innovators that leave college early or decide not to go at all to work at startups or throw themselves into the field full time,” Sutton explained. “Companies want to make sure they’re hiring the best tech professionals, and that their roles are open to those people.”

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