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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Fish and Game Wardens?
Task-level automation exposure for Fish and Game Wardens: 23 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
31%
weighted task index
23 of 23 tasks scored
Median Salary
$74,060 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
5,770 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-5.7%
employment change
500 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 35 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$31,200 – $100,090
Highest medians
California $100,090
Iowa $98,260
Indiana $93,990
Nevada $91,750
Maryland $89,300
Lowest medians
Florida $31,200
Pennsylvania $50,250
Kentucky $54,570
Montana $59,490
Louisiana $59,940
State figures come from the 33-3031 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 31%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 15%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 28%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 26%
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 39/100
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
23 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) 0%
0 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 44%
10 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 56%
13 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 05/2025 · AI/SME
Operate drones for surveillance of large areas and tracking of wildlife.
Constituent Tasks
#20586 · Core · 3% automatable
Participate in search-and-rescue operations.
situated mobility — Rescue requires physical presence in hazardous environments
Rescue people from hazardous situations.
#20582 · Core · 44% automatable
Compile and present evidence for court actions.
text generation — Incident reports drafted from facts; human reviews
Prepare investigation or incident reports. Testify at legal or legislative proceedings.
#7918 · Core · 20% automatable
Protect and preserve native wildlife, plants, or ecosystems.
physical manipulation — Protection requires field work and enforcement in the world
Protect wildlife or natural areas.
#7915 · Core · 15% automatable
Patrol assigned areas by car, boat, airplane, horse, or on foot to enforce game, fish, or boating laws or to manage wildlife programs, lakes, or land.
situated mobility — Patrolling natural areas is physical mobile work
Patrol natural areas to ensure safety or enforce regulations.
#20583 · Core · 30% automatable
Investigate hunting accidents or reports of fish or game law violations.
decision support — Investigation is human fieldwork with judgment
Investigate illegal or suspicious activities. Investigate accidents to determine causes.
#7921 · Core · 30% automatable
Provide assistance to other local law enforcement agencies as required.
interpersonal — Live incident response with agencies is human-led
Collaborate with law enforcement or security agencies to respond to incidents.
#20584 · Core · 51% automatable
Issue warnings or citations and file reports as necessary.
text generation — Incident reports drafted from facts; human reviews
Prepare investigation or incident reports. Issue warnings or citations.
#7933 · Core · 55% automatable
Provide advice or information to park or reserve visitors.
interpersonal — Public communication needs accountability and audience trust
Inform the public about policies, services or procedures.
#20585 · Core · 7% automatable
Serve warrants and make arrests.
situated mobility — Physical service of court documents in the world
Apprehend criminal suspects. Serve court ordered documents.
#20587 · Core · 55% automatable
Arrange for disposition of fish or game illegally taken or possessed.
decision support — AI can arrange deliveries; exceptions need human handling
Arrange delivery of goods or services.
#7919 · Core · 50% automatable
Promote or provide hunter or trapper safety training.
interpersonal — Training content AI-assisted; live instruction and demonstration human
Provide safety training.
#20588 · Core · 5% automatable
Seize equipment used in fish and game law violations.
physical manipulation — Physically confiscating items from people
Confiscate prohibited or dangerous items.
#7922 · Core · 55% automatable
Address schools, civic groups, sporting clubs, or the media to disseminate information concerning wildlife conservation and regulations.
interpersonal — Public communication needs accountability and audience trust
Inform the public about policies, services or procedures.
#7923 · Core · 20% automatable
Recommend revisions in hunting and trapping regulations or in animal management programs so that wildlife balances or habitats can be maintained.
physical manipulation — Protection requires field work and enforcement in the world
Protect wildlife or natural areas.
#7932 · Core · 35% automatable
Issue licenses, permits, or other documentation.
decision support — Legal issuance requires authority and accountability
Issue permits or other legal documents.
#7924 · Supplemental · 42% automatable
Inspect commercial operations relating to fish or wildlife, recreation, or protected areas.
decision support — AI aids process inspection; physical verification is human
Inspect operational processes.
#7929 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Design or implement control measures to prevent or counteract damage caused by wildlife or people.
physical manipulation — Protection requires field work and enforcement in the world
Protect wildlife or natural areas.
#7925 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Collect and report information on populations or conditions of fish and wildlife in their habitats, availability of game food or cover, or suspected pollution.
information retrieval — Field measurement is human; AI helps record/interpret
Record information about environmental conditions.
#7928 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Investigate crop, property, or habitat damage or destruction or instances of water pollution to determine causes and to advise property owners of preventive measures.
physical manipulation — Scene inspection and evidence gathering human
Investigate accidents to determine causes.
#7934 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Perform facilities maintenance work, such as constructing or repairing structures or controlling weeds or pests.
physical manipulation — Facility upkeep is hands-on physical work
Maintain facilities.
#7926 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Survey areas and compile figures of bag counts of hunters to determine the effectiveness of control measures.
situated mobility — Surveillance and observation require physical presence
Observe individuals' activities to gather information or compile evidence.
#7930 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Document the extent of crop, property, or habitat damage and make financial loss estimates or compensation recommendations.
information retrieval — Field measurement is human; AI helps record/interpret
Record information about environmental conditions.
#20589 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Participate in firefighting efforts.
situated mobility — Wildland firefighting is physical work in unpredictable terrain
Perform forest firefighting activities.
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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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