For some people, automation can be a scary term -- one associated with doomsday scenarios of robots taking jobs, or even taking over the world.

But while automation is affecting industries across the United States, new research suggests that its impact might be less than once feared, especially for lower-risk cities such as Austin, which experts say have developed job markets less prone to replacement by machines.

A study released Thursday by Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, found that roughly a quarter of U.S. jobs will have high exposure to automation in coming decades, a percentage that researchers called “sobering” but which they also said showed that the vast majority of U.S. residents won’t be highly impacted.

For Austin, the outlook is mostly positive because of the city’s increasing reliance on high-skilled jobs, many which are in the tech sector, said Mark Muro, a co-author of the report.

“Our overarching takeaway is that for most workers and most places, the next round of automation and artificial intelligence should be manageable,” Muro said. “There won’t be a huge job apocalypse.”

At the center of the Brookings study is an analysis of about 800 jobs across industries that are categorized as having low, medium or high exposure to automation.

Using economic and labor data from Census reports, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and research firms McKinsey and Company, EMSI and Moody’s Analytics, the researchers applied their analyses to the different economic and industry structures of cities throughout the country to form average automation potentials for each city.

In that measure, Austin was ranked as the 78th least vulnerable metro area in the U.S. out of the 100 largest metro areas, beating out every other major city in Texas. The state as a whole ranked 25th least vulnerable in the nation, a number that was affected by the Texas’ vast industrial, service, health care and other more vulnerable industries.

Austin’s array of high-tech jobs such as software developers at both startup companies and established firms is a main reason for its lower exposure, Muro said.

But that’s not the whole story, said Amber Gunst, CEO of the Austin Technology Council.

High-tech companies such as Amazon, Oracle, Google and Apple have also chosen Austin as a landing spot for non--tech positions such as sales and marketing, which are not as prone to automation. And Austin has also cultivated the music and arts industries, sectors deemed at lower risk to automation.

“Austin has never been a city focused on traditional type of businesses like factory work,” Gunst said. “We have a story to tell on how we diversified ourselves and worked with our community to integrate technology. We’ve brought in a lot of different types of companies.”

The Brookings study found that heartland states such as Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Indiana -- those that were hit hardest by the previous wave of automation at jobs in factories -- will also see the greatest hardship going forward. Those states, Brookings concluded, host higher percentages of jobs at risk, such as routine-oriented positions in the manufacturing, agriculture, service, packaging, food and retail sectors.

Additionally, Brookings said lower-wage and lower-education roles will struggle more with automation, and that Hispanic and black workers will be more vulnerable.

While Austin fairs better, it will still face some automation challenges, the study found. About 22 percent of jobs studied were deemed high-risk.

Work in food service, at hotels and at airports are examples of vulnerable areas around Austin, Gunst said. While navigating changes in some industries won’t be easy, she said, remembering the essence of Brookings’ findings will be important.

“That there is only so much you can automate,” Gunst said. “No matter how easy it is to automate certain aspects, there still comes many points where you need to interact with a person. There are always going to be people in the mix.”