AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Animal Trainers?

Task-level automation exposure for Animal Trainers: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

27% weighted task index

15 of 15 tasks scored

Median Salary

$39,990 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

18,770 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+4.2% employment change

6,500 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 47 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$29,670 – $62,960

Highest medians

Virginia $62,960

Alabama $55,700

Oregon $55,520

California $49,060

New York $48,790

Lowest medians

South Carolina $29,670

Michigan $30,820

Ohio $32,700

Louisiana $32,720

Arizona $33,330

State figures come from the 39-2011 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 27%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 47%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 29%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 7%

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 22/100 Low

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

15 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) 21%

3 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 9%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 70%

10 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 07/2014 · Incumbent

Teach owners how to train their dogs.
New 07/2014 · Incumbent

Teach people with visual impairments to use guide dogs.

Constituent Tasks

#7989 · Core · 25% automatable

Cue or signal animals during performances.

interpersonal — Directing live productions requires human leadership

Direct productions or performances.

#7993 · Core · 10% automatable

Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#20593 · Core · 10% automatable

Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#7992 · Core · 8% automatable

Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.

physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work

Clean facilities or work areas. Maintain facilities. Care for animals.

#7988 · Core · 28% automatable

Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.

visual inspection — Monitoring health/behavior of people or animals is on-site

Monitor health or behavior of people or animals.

#7991 · Core · 60% automatable

Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.

decision support — Capability assessment aided by records, human decides

Evaluate capabilities or training needs.

#7990 · Core · 8% automatable

Administer prescribed medications to animals.

physical manipulation — Basic health care treatments are hands-on patient work

Administer basic health care or medical treatments.

#7995 · Core · 72% automatable

Keep records documenting animal health, diet, or behavior.

text generation — Draft clinical progress notes from provided inputs

Document client health or progress.

#20594 · Core · 60% automatable

Evaluate animals for trainability and ability to perform.

decision support — Capability assessment aided by records, human decides

Evaluate capabilities or training needs.

#7996 · Core · 50% automatable

Advise animal owners regarding the purchase of specific animals.

interpersonal — Client service-option discussion needs human relationship

Discuss service options or needs with clients.

#7998 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Train horses or other equines for riding, harness, show, racing, or other work, using knowledge of breed characteristics, training methods, performance standards, and the peculiarities of each animal.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#7999 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Use oral, spur, rein, or hand commands to condition horses to carry riders or to pull horse-drawn equipment.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#8002 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Retrain horses to break bad habits, such as kicking, bolting, or resisting bridling or grooming.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#8001 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Train dogs in human assistance or property protection duties.

physical manipulation — Live animal handling and behavioral training

Train animals.

#8004 · Supplemental · 40% automatable

Organize or conduct animal shows.

interpersonal — Event organizing aided; logistics and presence human

Organize recreational activities or events.

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Community Sentiment

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Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?

Method

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

See the full method →

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