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DEED: AI will reshape tasks across jobs; Otter Tail County has lower AI exposure but faces demographic shifts
Summary
A DEED regional analyst told the Otter Tail County summit that AI exposure is high in many white-collar occupations but Otter Tail'9s industry mix (healthcare, manufacturing) yields relatively lower exposure. He recommended preparing students and workers to use AI while tracking demographic-driven labor changes.
Cameron Mott, a regional analyst from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), told summit attendees that artificial intelligence is already reshaping tasks across occupations but that exposure to AI does not automatically translate to immediate job loss.
Mott reviewed national studies of occupation exposure to AI and DEED'9s own analysis. He said that, compared with Minnesota metro areas, Otter Tail County has a lower overall exposure score because the county has a comparatively higher share of manufacturing and food-production jobs and a lower share of professional-and-technical services. Still, he warned that educational services, healthcare and some white-collar roles have high exposure and that workers who learn to use AI will have a competitive advantage.
DEED presented county-level data: roughly 23,000 jobs across about 1,900 firms, healthcare and social assistance as the largest industry (~4,500 jobs), manufacturing representing ~17% of employment, and a population of about 61,000 with roughly 25% aged 65 and over. Mott described demographic projections that show continued in-migration but an aging population, and he noted that DEED projects the state will add roughly 145,000 net new jobs over the coming decade.
Mott emphasized two policy implications for the county: (1) align training to anticipated task changes—teaching AI-adaptive skills in both high schools and college—and (2) keep tracking local data because current evidence does not yet show a direct, quantifiable substitution of jobs by AI at the county level.
