Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Animal Caretakers?
Task-level automation exposure for Animal Caretakers: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
26%
weighted task index
22 of 22 tasks scored
Median Salary
$35,360 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
266,910 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+12.1%
employment change
62,800 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$26,970 – $44,210
Highest medians
District of Columbia $44,210
Washington $40,570
Hawaii $40,130
Massachusetts $39,650
California $38,700
Lowest medians
Mississippi $26,970
Puerto Rico $27,600
Louisiana $27,910
Alabama $28,330
West Virginia $28,550
State figures come from the 39-2021 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 26%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 25%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 44%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 11%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 29/100
Moderate
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 20%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 8%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 73%
16 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2019 · Incumbent
Scuba dive in aquariums to perform exhibit maintenance.
- New 08/2019 · Incumbent
Train volunteers and facility staff.
Constituent Tasks
#5072 · Core · 5% automatable
Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
physical manipulation — Animal care requires hands-on handling of unpredictable animals
Care for animals.
#5077 · Core · 8% automatable
Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
physical manipulation — Basic health care treatments are hands-on patient work
Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
#5075 · Core · 28% automatable
Examine and observe animals to detect signs of illness, disease, or injury.
visual inspection — Monitoring health/behavior of people or animals is on-site
Monitor health or behavior of people or animals.
#5082 · Core · 5% automatable
Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
physical manipulation — Hands-on meal preparation
Prepare foods or meals.
#20132 · Core · 10% automatable
Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work
Clean facilities or work areas. Perform housekeeping duties. Maintain facilities.
#5080 · Core · 5% automatable
Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
physical manipulation — Animal care requires hands-on handling of unpredictable animals
Care for animals.
#5078 · Core · 72% automatable
Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
text generation — Draft clinical progress notes from provided inputs
Document client health or progress.
#5076 · Core · 62% automatable
Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
interpersonal — Routine inquiries answerable; nuanced cases need human
Respond to customer inquiries.
#5074 · Core · 70% automatable
Answer telephones and schedule appointments.
decision support — Calendar scheduling automatable; exceptions need human judgment
Schedule appointments. Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
#21150 · Core · 33% automatable
Advise pet owners on how to care for their pets' health.
decision support — Wellness advice needs tailoring and clinical accountability
Confer with clients to discuss treatment plans or progress. Provide care for animals. Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
#5079 · Core · 5% automatable
Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
physical manipulation — Animal care requires hands-on handling of unpredictable animals
Care for animals.
#5085 · Supplemental · 49% automatable
Observe and caution children petting and feeding animals in designated areas to ensure the safety of humans and animals.
information retrieval — AI explains policies; human handles live questions
Monitor patron activities to identify problems or potential problems. Explain regulations, policies, or procedures.
#5083 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Clean and disinfect surgical equipment.
physical manipulation — Tool cleaning is physical manipulation
Clean tools or equipment.
#5086 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Find homes for stray or unwanted animals.
physical manipulation — Animal care requires hands-on handling of unpredictable animals
Care for animals.
#5084 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Discuss with clients their pets' grooming needs.
interpersonal — Client service-option discussion needs human relationship
Discuss service options or needs with clients.
#5089 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Transfer animals between enclosures to facilitate breeding, birthing, shipping, or rearrangement of exhibits.
physical manipulation — Animal care requires hands-on handling of unpredictable animals
Care for animals.
#5087 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Adjust controls to regulate specified temperature and humidity of animal quarters, nurseries, or exhibit areas.
physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work
Maintain facilities.
#5088 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Anesthetize and inoculate animals, according to instructions.
physical manipulation — Basic health care treatments are hands-on patient work
Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
#5090 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Install, maintain, and repair animal care facility equipment, such as infrared lights, feeding devices, and cages.
physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work
Maintain facilities.
#5091 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Train animals to perform certain tasks.
physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training
Train animals.
#5081 · Supplemental · 74% automatable
Order, unload, and store feed and supplies.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Maintain supply or equipment inventories. Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#5093 · Supplemental · 32% automatable
Sell pet food and supplies.
interpersonal — Closing sales requires persuasion and accountability
Sell products or services.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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