AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Social and Human Service Assistants?

Task-level automation exposure for Social and Human Service Assistants: 19 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

40% weighted task index

19 of 19 tasks scored

Median Salary

$45,930 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

437,860 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+7.4% employment change

48,900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$31,200 – $59,460

Highest medians

District of Columbia $59,460

Washington $54,770

Oregon $51,230

California $51,090

Minnesota $49,940

Lowest medians

Mississippi $31,200

Puerto Rico $31,570

Louisiana $35,780

Alabama $35,830

Oklahoma $36,740

State figures come from the 21-1093 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 40%

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

Physical work 3%

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

Judgment & influence 43%

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

Routine administration 15%

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 10/100 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

19 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) 22%

4 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 35%

7 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 43%

8 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 08/2020 · Incumbent

Teach parenting techniques to family members.

Constituent Tasks

#21179 · Core · 16% automatable

Assess clients' cognitive abilities and physical and emotional needs to determine appropriate interventions.

physical manipulation — Diagnostic tests require physical patient procedures

Conduct diagnostic tests to determine patient health. Examine patients to assess general physical condition.

#21180 · Core · 40% automatable

Develop and implement behavioral management and care plans for clients.

decision support — AI drafts plans; clinician assesses and owns treatment

Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.

#3754 · Core · 70% automatable

Keep records or prepare reports for owner or management concerning visits with clients.

text generation — Reports/evaluations drafted; human owns judgment

Write reports or evaluations. Maintain social services program records.

#3755 · Core · 10% automatable

Visit individuals in homes or attend group meetings to provide information on agency services, requirements, or procedures.

situated mobility — Physical home visits require human presence

Visit individuals in their homes to provide support or information.

#3757 · Core · 72% automatable

Submit reports and review reports or problems with superior.

text generation — Reports/evaluations drafted; human owns judgment

Write reports or evaluations.

#3759 · Core · 30% automatable

Interview individuals or family members to compile information on social, educational, criminal, institutional, or drug history.

interpersonal — Client background interviews are relational

Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.

#3753 · Core · 55% automatable

Provide information or refer individuals to public or private agencies or community services for assistance.

text generation — Program info drafted; public presentation human

Present social services program information to the public. Refer clients to community or social service programs.

#3756 · Core · 28% automatable

Advise clients regarding food stamps, child care, food, money management, sanitation, or housekeeping.

interpersonal — Teaching life skills to families needs human modeling

Teach life skills or strategies to clients or their families.

#3758 · Supplemental · 38% automatable

Oversee day-to-day group activities of residents in institution.

situated mobility — Live monitoring of people in physical settings

Monitor activities of individuals to ensure safety or compliance with rules.

#3770 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Assist in locating housing for displaced individuals.

decision support — Resource navigation aided by AI; human owns case

Help clients get needed services or resources.

#3765 · Supplemental · 42% automatable

Consult with supervisor concerning programs for individual families.

interpersonal — Client assessment collaboration is professional judgment

Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.

#3764 · Supplemental · 30% automatable

Demonstrate use and care of equipment for tenant use.

physical manipulation — Demonstrating techniques is physical, hands-on work

Demonstrate activity techniques or equipment use.

#3772 · Supplemental · 30% automatable

Assist in planning food budgets, using charts or sample budgets.

interpersonal — Coordinating real-world daily life details with client

Assist clients in handling details of daily life.

#3771 · Supplemental · 30% automatable

Assist clients with preparation of forms, such as tax or rent forms.

interpersonal — Coordinating real-world daily life details with client

Assist clients in handling details of daily life.

#3762 · Supplemental · 62% automatable

Explain rules established by owner or management, such as sanitation or maintenance requirements or parking regulations.

information retrieval — AI explains policies; human handles live questions

Explain regulations, policies, or procedures.

#3767 · Supplemental · 46% automatable

Observe clients' food selections and recommend alternate economical and nutritional food choices.

interpersonal — Client health advice needs relationship and accountability

Monitor nutrition related activities of individuals or groups. Advise clients or community groups on health issues.

#3763 · Supplemental · 46% automatable

Observe and discuss meal preparation and suggest alternate methods of food preparation.

interpersonal — Client health advice needs relationship and accountability

Monitor nutrition related activities of individuals or groups. Advise clients or community groups on health issues.

#3761 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Transport and accompany clients to shopping areas or to appointments, using automobile.

situated mobility — Driving and physically transporting clients

Transport clients to appointments.

#3768 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Inform tenants of facilities, such as laundries or playgrounds.

interpersonal — Scripted info delivery, but live rapport and accountability matter

Provide basic information to guests, visitors, or clients.

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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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