AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates?

Task-level automation exposure for Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates: 21 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

25% weighted task index

21 of 21 tasks scored

Median Salary

$153,990 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

24,030 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+2.8% employment change

800 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 41 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$49,960 – $239,760

Highest medians

Rhode Island $239,760

Massachusetts $221,710

Connecticut $217,760

New York $216,390

Hawaii $211,810

Lowest medians

Mississippi $49,960

Michigan $51,210

Alabama $52,850

West Virginia $63,240

Wisconsin $76,620

State figures come from the 23-1023 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 25%

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

Physical work 0%

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

Judgment & influence 62%

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

Routine administration 18%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 5%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 35/100 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

21 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) 6%

1 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 13%

3 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 81%

17 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.

Revision 08/2020 · Incumbent

Issue search or arrest warrants.

Replaced: Issue arrest warrants.

Constituent Tasks

#5644 · Core · 15% automatable

Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes.

decision support — Legal decisions are accountable human judgment

Make decisions in legal cases.

#5649 · Core · 20% automatable

Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed.

interpersonal — Courtroom direction is live legal authority

Direct courtroom activities or procedures.

#5643 · Core · 20% automatable

Instruct juries on applicable laws, direct juries to deduce the facts from the evidence presented, and hear their verdicts.

interpersonal — Courtroom direction is live legal authority

Direct courtroom activities or procedures.

#5653 · Core · 40% automatable

Write decisions on cases.

decision support — Legal decisions carry accountability; AI only drafts

Prepare written decisions for legal proceedings.

#5647 · Core · 64% automatable

Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues.

information retrieval — Legal research strong, decision human

Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making. Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

#5645 · Core · 15% automatable

Rule on admissibility of evidence and methods of conducting testimony.

decision support — Admissibility rulings are judicial human acts

Rule on admissibility of legal proceedings.

#5646 · Core · 15% automatable

Preside over hearings and listen to allegations made by plaintiffs to determine whether the evidence supports the charges.

interpersonal — Hearings are live human proceedings

Conduct hearings to investigate legal issues.

#5654 · Core · 20% automatable

Award compensation for damages to litigants in civil cases in relation to findings by juries or by the court.

decision support — Settlement authorization is high-stakes human judgment

Authorize payments to settle legal disputes.

#5650 · Core · 20% automatable

Advise attorneys, juries, litigants, and court personnel regarding conduct, issues, and proceedings.

interpersonal — Courtroom direction is live legal authority

Direct courtroom activities or procedures.

#5651 · Core · 53% automatable

Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues.

information retrieval — Legal research strong, decision human

Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making. Prepare written decisions for legal proceedings.

#5648 · Core · 20% automatable

Interpret and enforce rules of procedure or establish new rules in situations where there are no procedures already established by law.

interpersonal — Courtroom direction is live legal authority

Direct courtroom activities or procedures.

#21182 · Core · 10% automatable Revision

Issue arrest warrants.

situated mobility — Physical service of court documents in the world

Serve court ordered documents.

#5655 · Core · 22% automatable

Settle disputes between opposing attorneys.

decision support — Arbitration carries legal authority and judgment

Arbitrate disputes between parties to resolve legal conflicts.

#5657 · Core · 15% automatable

Impose restrictions upon parties in civil cases until trials can be held.

decision support — Legal decisions are accountable human judgment

Make decisions in legal cases.

#5656 · Core · 28% automatable

Supervise other judges, court officers, and the court's administrative staff.

interpersonal — Legal personnel supervision carries accountability and judgment

Supervise activities of other legal personnel.

#5658 · Supplemental · 15% automatable

Rule on custody and access disputes, and enforce court orders regarding custody and support of children.

decision support — Legal decisions are accountable human judgment

Make decisions in legal cases.

#5652 · Supplemental · 15% automatable

Conduct preliminary hearings to decide issues, such as whether there is reasonable and probable cause to hold defendants in felony cases.

interpersonal — Hearings are live human proceedings

Conduct hearings to investigate legal issues.

#5659 · Supplemental · 18% automatable

Grant divorces and divide assets between spouses.

decision support — Settlement authorization is high-stakes human judgment

Authorize payments to settle legal disputes. Make decisions in legal cases.

#5660 · Supplemental · 22% automatable

Participate in judicial tribunals to help resolve disputes.

decision support — Arbitration carries legal authority and judgment

Arbitrate disputes between parties to resolve legal conflicts.

#20057 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Provide information regarding the judicial system or other legal issues through the media and public speeches.

interpersonal — Public communication needs accountability and audience trust

Inform the public about policies, services or procedures.

#5661 · Supplemental · 15% automatable

Perform wedding ceremonies.

interpersonal — Administering oaths requires legal presence and authority

Administer oaths to court participants.

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Community Sentiment

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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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