Top 5 Jobs in Government That Are Most at Risk from AI in Denver - And How to Adapt

Denver's public sector now sits at the intersection of a national automation wave and rising local AI demand: nationwide reporting shows “more than 27,000” job cuts tied to AI since 2023, while Colorado's AI-specific job postings jumped 66.5% year‑over‑year to 263 openings, signaling early but accelerating adoption that will most strongly affect predictable, entry‑level municipal work.

That combination - federal and private employers shrinking routine roles as local governments pilot efficiency tools - means DMV clerks, administrative assistants and similar positions in Denver face faster disruption unless workers gain practical AI skills; targeted reskilling like Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work course focuses on prompts and job‑based tools to preserve and upgrade civic careers.

Read the national findings in the CBS News report on AI-driven job losses, the Colorado context in the Colorado Sun analysis of AI skills growth, and review the program syllabus at the AI Essentials for Work syllabus.

"The industry is being reshaped by the advancement of artificial intelligence and ongoing uncertainty surrounding work visas, which have contributed to workforce reductions." - Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Selection combined statewide policy signals, federal/state task‑force guidance and the practical mechanics of work that are most easily automated: the process began with a scan of NCSL's 2023–2025 legislative summaries to flag Colorado statutes and procurement trends that raise automation risk (for example, Colorado's recent AI disclosures and “reasonable care” duties for high‑risk systems), cross‑referenced with NCSL's inventory and oversight categories (Government Use; Notification; Effect on Labor/Employment) to identify roles tied to routine decision rules and customer interactions, and validated against convening notes from the NCSL Task Force on AI, Cybersecurity and Privacy to confirm likely deployment pathways in state and local agencies.

Roles scored highest on three practical criteria - routine, high‑volume tasks; presence in agency ADS procurement or disclosure rules; and exposure to public‑facing workflows - produced the five at‑risk jobs covered in this series.

This approach prioritizes legal and procurement momentum over hype, so the “so what?” is concrete: jobs that primarily move records, process forms, or answer predictable public queries are the first to feel Colorado's new AI rules and automation pilots.

For reference, see the NCSL AI 2025 legislation summary for Colorado, the NCSL Task Force on AI, Cybersecurity & Privacy convening notes, and recent local pilot and grant signals for government AI adoption.

NCSL AI 2025 legislation summary for Colorado - comprehensive overview of state AI bills and disclosures, NCSL Task Force on AI, Cybersecurity & Privacy convening notes and guidance, Local government AI pilot and grant signals for Denver cost-savings and efficiency.

Denver and Colorado state data scientists sit squarely in the Microsoft Research list of roles with high generative‑AI overlap, because much of their work - gathering information, drafting reports, and routine model building - maps to capabilities tools like Copilot handle well; the national study flags “Data Scientists” among the top‑40 exposed occupations and assigns a 0.36 AI applicability score, meaning many desk‑level tasks can be accelerated or automated unless teams reallocate work toward oversight and productionization (Microsoft Research generative-AI occupational impact study (Fortune), Microsoft study: Data scientists among most exposed to AI (R&D World)).

The concrete “so what?” for municipal analysts: Colorado's procurement and disclosure momentum means city/state teams that keep doing repeatable analyses and report drafting without adopting governance, validation and deployment skills may see headcount pressure, while those who learn to supervise models and translate outputs for policy retain strategic value.

“Our research shows that AI supports many tasks, particularly those involving research, writing, and communication, but does not indicate it can fully perform any single occupation. As AI adoption accelerates, it's important that we continue to study and better understand its societal and economic impact.” - Kiran Tomlinson, Senior Microsoft Researcher

Administrative assistants in Denver municipal offices are first in line to feel AI's practical squeeze: pilots like Mayor Mike Johnston's “Chief AI” - a command‑center dashboard that compiles scheduling requests, background notes and briefing materials - are already trimming routine work in the mayor's office during an 11‑month trial that concludes in December, while the city's March RFP for AI vendors signals broader procurement momentum to automate and consolidate repetitive tasks across departments.

Tools shown to cut appointment booking, data entry and email management mean calendar management, transcription and standardized briefing prep - the daily bread of many clerical roles - are likely to be shifted into software unless staff retool toward verifying outputs, managing vendor integrations, and handling exceptions that algorithms mishandle.

The so‑what: without prompt‑skills and oversight training, administrative jobs risk losing predictable duties; with targeted reskilling, those same workers can move into higher‑value roles supervising AI and protecting service quality.

“Chief AI helps remove hours of administrative burden in the Mayor's office - from scheduling to briefing preparation,” said Jordan Fuja.

See reporting on the mayor's Chief AI trial, Denver's AI vendor RFP, and research on AI automating administrative tasks.

DMV Customer Service Representatives in Colorado are already seeing routine traffic siphoned off to machines and bots - statewide pilots combine a 2022 DMV chatbot with the February 2024 “Chat with Live Agent” rollout so callers can start with automation and escalate to a human if needed, while self‑service MV Express Kiosks (the blue‑and‑yellow touchscreen units that print registrations and tabs on the spot) handle simple renewals and duplicate registrations; together these tools mirror national results where an AI Q&A chatbot and cloud migration helped a state DMV deflect roughly 70% of inquiries to self‑service, cutting call volume and freeing staff for complex cases and fraud reviews.

The so‑what: predictable, high‑volume questions - appointment scheduling, form status, fee lookups - are leaving the human queue, so Colorado DMV reps should shift toward exception handling, verification, and supervising AI. See the Colorado DMV “Chat with Live Agent” announcement, InterVision's DMV transformation case study on 70% inquiry deflection, and practical guidance on implementing AI chatbots for DMV operations.

“This latest innovation provides more convenience to our customers and another way to interact with the DMV.” - DMV Senior Director Electra Bustle

Court interpreters in Denver remain indispensable even as AI begins to nibble at low‑risk translation tasks: the Denver County Court provides access in over 140 spoken languages and asks that non‑Spanish interpreter requests be made at least five days before a hearing, a reminder that real‑time accuracy and scheduling logistics matter on the ground (Denver County Court interpreter services and language access information).

National guidance is clear - AI can speed first‑pass document translation but repeatedly stumbles on legal nuance, pronouns and contextual meaning, so certified linguists must stay “human in the loop” to ensure due process (NCSC guidance on AI-assisted court translation and human review).

Advocacy groups likewise warn against replacing live interpreters and call for investment in credentialed professionals and secure workflows (ATA policy statement on AI and interpreter replacement risks).

So what: Denver's interpreters should prepare to shift routine written work into roles that post‑edit AI outputs, build court‑specific glossaries, and own quality assurance and governance - the skills that will keep them central to fair hearings.

"Part of the real challenge that courts face is that there's a high demand for translators and interpreters and a shortage of both. AI-assisted translation is a tool that courts can use to help address this critical need, but AI translation needs human review to ensure accuracy." - Grace Spulak, Principal Court Management Consultant, NCSC

Policy analysts across Colorado state agencies now contend with AI that can draft legislative language, run scenario models, and summarize stakeholder input - functions described in practical AI policy tools and agent frameworks - so the day‑to‑day craft of writing memos and impact notes is shifting from manual drafting toward model oversight, validation and governance (AI agent public policy impact analyzer and assessment tool).

That shift is already a policy issue at the state level: Colorado's Artificial Intelligence Impact Task Force is charged with examining AI issues and reporting recommendations to the Joint Technology Committee and the Governor by February 1, 2025 (Colorado Artificial Intelligence Impact Task Force: 2024 session details), while national surveys and state guidance show over 150 AI bills were considered in 2024 and Colorado has restricted free ChatGPT on state devices - concrete governance signals that make validation, impact assessment, and procurement literacy nonnegotiable skills (NCSL analysis of AI in federal and state government).

So what: policy analysts who learn to run AI impact assessments, apply NIST‑aligned risk checks, and translate model outputs for policymakers convert a potential redundancy into a high‑value role safeguarding legal compliance and public trust.

Actionable steps for Denver and Colorado government workers: audit daily tasks to identify repeatable work that AI can deflect, then plug into existing state supports to reskill and protect public service quality - apply for targeted training through the Colorado Workforce Development Council's technical assistance modules (CWDC technical assistance resources for AI and workforce adoption: https://cwdc.colorado.gov/resources/technical-assistance) to learn practical governance and sector partnership strategies (CWDC technical assistance resources for AI and workforce adoption); join the Colorado Department of Labor's Digital Access stakeholder meetings or tap Digital Navigator resources to secure broadband, devices and basic digital‑skills supports for frontline staff and communities (Colorado Department of Labor digital inclusion and Digital Navigator resources); and leverage RUN funding and local workforce boards (HB21‑1264 apportioned $20.75M to local boards for short‑term credentials) to cover rapid upskilling that shifts workers from routine tasks into verification, exception handling and AI‑oversight roles.

For immediate, job‑focused prompt and tool training that maps directly to DMV, administrative, policy and analyst workflows, consider Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work syllabus and registration as a concrete pathway to stay employable while supervising automated systems (AI Essentials for Work syllabus and course details (Nucamp)).

The so‑what: workers who learn to validate AI outputs and manage exceptions convert an automation threat into a retained, higher‑value role in Colorado's public workforce.

“As we try to maintain balance amid shifting sand, we as a network committed to building opportunity can't get stuck in the mire and lose sight of our purpose. We must use change as a catalyst to reenvision and reinvigorate how we move forward.” - Brad Turner‑Little, NAWB (reported in CWDC)