AI AND YOUR JOB · CHECKED OCT 2026
Will AI replace actuaries?
No, and the numbers point the other way. AI now speeds up pricing models, code and report drafts, but the profession's own standards make the signing actuary responsible for every model and assumption. BLS projects actuary jobs to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, with about 1,500 openings a year.
- Tasks from the US Labor Department's O*NET
- Pay and outlook from BLS
- 11 sources
AI EXPOSURE TODAY
Low
AI does 0 and helps with 5 of 15 core tasks. 10 are still human.
- AI does it (0)
- AI helps (5)
- Still human (10)
Task by task: what AI can do today
The core tasks of the job, from the US Labor Department's O*NET profile (15-2011.00). Each verdict links to its evidence.
| Task | Verdict | Tools doing it | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analyze data to set premium rates, reserves and liabilities | AI helps, you check | Akur8, WTW ResQ Machine-led Reserving | Pricing platforms like Akur8 automate much of the rate modeling and WTW's machine led reserving produces automated loss reserve estimates on demand, but choosing the factors, adjusting the results and defending them to regulators is still the actuary's call. [6][10] |
| Estimate mortality, accident, sickness, disability and retirement rates | AI helps, you check | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilot in Excel and similar assistants can build summaries and charts from experience data on request, yet setting a credible assumption from thin or messy data takes actuarial judgment. [3] |
| Build probability tables for events such as fires, disasters and unemployment | AI helps, you check | GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT | AI coding assistants write and debug the R, Python or SQL behind these tables, which nearly half of early career SOA members who use AI already do, but checking the logic against the data is on you. [4] |
| Develop and maintain projection models | AI helps, you check | Claude, ChatGPT, WTW RiskAgility FM | AI now helps write, refine and explain model code, including inside WTW's RiskAgility modeling software, but under ASOP 56 the actuary must understand any model built by others, including AI, and disclose how much they relied on it. [4][5][11] |
| Explain changes in contract provisions to customers | AI helps, you check | Microsoft 365 Copilot, Claude | Writing and interpreting documents is one of the top AI uses reported by SOA members, so a first draft comes quickly, though the wording on a policyholder notice must be checked for accuracy. [4] |
| Design and help run insurance, annuity and pension plans | Still human | None | Deciding whether a plan is financially sound for decades ahead mixes math with law, tax and business judgment that a signed actuarial opinion must stand behind. |
| Help set company policy and explain technical results to executives and regulators | Still human | None | Executives and state regulators want a credentialed person who can answer hard follow up questions and own the recommendation. |
| Work with underwriters, claims experts, programmers and senior management | Still human | None | Turning what claims and underwriting teams see on the ground into model assumptions depends on conversations and trust across departments. |
| Advise clients as a consulting actuary | Still human | None | Consulting clients pay for an experienced, credentialed opinion they can rely on in front of boards and auditors. |
| Decide how to share surplus earnings on participating policies | Still human | None | Splitting dividends fairly among policyholders is a judgment about equity that the actuary must document and defend. |
| Set the contract provisions for each type of insurance | Still human | None | Policy terms balance risk, cost, law and what customers will buy, and errors show up years later in claims. |
| Help financial institutions manage investment risk and returns | Still human | None | Matching assets to long term promises calls for judgment about markets and liabilities that the actuary signs off on. |
| Negotiate reinsurance terms with other companies | Still human | None | Reinsurance deals are negotiated between people who weigh relationships, market conditions and the numbers. |
| Testify before public agencies on proposed legislation | Still human | None | Lawmakers hear from a named expert who can be questioned and held to their statements. |
| Testify in court as an expert witness on values such as lost lifetime earnings | Still human | None | Courts require a qualified person to take the stand, explain the method and face cross examination. |
The job market for actuaries
Source: Actuaries. BLS expects this job to grow 9% over 2025 to 2035.
Where actuaries can move next
GROWING · $120,230
Data scientist
Your modeling, statistics and coding skills carry straight over, and BLS expects this field to grow much faster than average. The tradeoff is that data science work is more exposed to AI coding tools than credentialed actuarial sign off. [7]
Median pay $120,230 · outlook +35%GROWING · $166,570
Financial manager
Chief risk officers and finance directors make the final calls on capital and risk, which keeps accountability with people. Actuaries who understand reserves and enterprise risk are a natural fit after some years of management experience. [8]
Median pay $166,570 · outlook +10%GROWING · $105,650
Statistician
Designing studies and judging whether results are sound remains skilled human work, and your exam level probability and statistics background transfers. Many roles prefer a master's degree. [9]
Median pay $105,650 · outlook +11%AI tools changing this job
Our honest reviews of the tools named above.
Top picks: The Best AI Coding Assistant
ACTUARY AI PROOF KIT
Want the step by step plan for actuaries?
We are writing a actuary version of our AI Proof Kit: the tools to learn, how to set them up, a raise script and the safest next roles. We write kits in the order people ask for them.
Want to see what a kit looks like? See the bookkeeper kit.
Quick questions
Will AI replace actuaries?
Not according to current projections. BLS expects actuary jobs to grow 9% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, because insurers need actuaries to price new products and companies need help managing their own risk [2]. More consumer data and predictive tools are a reason for the growth, not a threat to it [2].
How are actuaries using AI right now?
Lightly so far. In the SOA's Summer 2025 member survey of 518 actuaries, most spent under five hours a week using or learning AI tools, and the top uses were learning, brainstorming and writing or interpreting documents [4]. Code generation was used by 48.1% of AI users with 10 years of experience or less [4].
Who is responsible if an AI model gets the numbers wrong?
The actuary. The Academy's Contingencies magazine notes that the Code of Professional Conduct requires AI output to be fact checked, and that ASOP 56 holds the actuary responsible for any model used, including disclosing reliance on models developed by others [5].
Is becoming an actuary still worth it with AI?
For people who like math and accountability, yes. The median actuary earned $130,000 in May 2025 [2]. Pricing tools such as Akur8 cut time spent on data preparation and modeling [6], which shifts the job toward judgment, communication and sign off.
Do actuarial exams still matter if AI can do the math?
Yes. BLS says actuaries typically must pass a series of exams, it can take up to 7 years to reach associate level, and pension actuaries must be licensed by the Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries [2]. Those credentials are what allow you to sign the work AI helps produce.
Sources
Checked 2026-10-10. Verdicts are Leapscope's reading of these sources. We did not test these tools hands on for this page.
- Actuaries (15-2011.00), O*NET OnLine
- Actuaries, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Get started with Copilot in Excel, Microsoft Support
- SOA Member AI Survey, Summer 2025, Society of Actuaries Research Institute
- AI and Professionalism, Contingencies, American Academy of Actuaries
- Elevating insurance pricing models: Akur8 introduces derivative lasso for actuarial precision, FinTech Global
- Data Scientists, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Financial Managers, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Mathematicians and Statisticians, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- WTW launches ResQ Machine-led Reserving to boost P&C re/insurance, Insurance Business
- WTW adds AI to its financial modelling and reporting, Life Insurance International
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