This new tool helps teenagers think about careers that will actually last

Like many adults, a lot of teenagers don't know what they want to do when they grow up.

Even when they think they do, they may not have a realistic grasp of whether a given occupation or job is likely to be economically viable for them over time. For instance, does it pay well? Is it a growing field or a shrinking one? Is it likely to fall victim to artificial intelligence? Just how many years do you need to spend in school to land a spot?

While many resources currently available may get at one or two of those factors, teens will now have access to an interactive tool that takes a measure of all of them.

The Careers of the Future Index (along with an accompanying report and public database) is intended to help educate not only them, but their school guidance counselors, parents and really anyone who is curious about getting into different fields.

Created by Gallup in partnership with Amazon Future Engineer, Amazon's philanthropic computer science education program, the CFI interactive paints a picture of how a given role ranks in several categories: 1) pay, including whether it offers enough to sustain a family, defined as $69,740 in annual income; 2) job growth; 3) openings per job seeker; 4) how resistant a career is to being taken over by automation, including artificial intelligence; and 5) what level of education is typical for those employed in the field.

After assessing all those elements, the role is assigned a CFI score - the higher the number, the more economically viable a job is.

The free database also includes diversity statistics regarding how representative those employed in a given field are, relative to the general US population, in terms of gender, race and ethnicity.