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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Substitute Teachers, Short-Term?
Task-level automation exposure for Substitute Teachers, Short-Term: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
42%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$41,670 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
524,770 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.0%
employment change
65,000 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 51 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$22,340 – $66,920
Highest medians
Alaska $66,920
California $60,300
Hawaii $58,530
Oregon $58,280
Washington $55,740
Lowest medians
Mississippi $22,340
Oklahoma $23,770
Nevada $24,960
Alabama $25,340
Guam $27,210
State figures come from the 25-3031 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 42%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 6%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 54%
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 1/100
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
18 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) 19%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 31%
5 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 50%
9 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 08/2025 · Incumbent
Provide teachers with notes summarizing the day's activities and feedback on any issues or events that occurred.
Constituent Tasks
#22395 · Core · 32% automatable
Enforce school and class rules to maintain order in the classroom.
interpersonal — Enforcing behavior requires in-person authority and judgment
Enforce rules or policies governing student behavior.
#22389 · Core · 50% automatable
Answer students' questions.
interpersonal — Course content AI-assisted; live teaching and assessment human
Teach classes in area of specialization.
#22396 · Core · 50% automatable
Follow lesson plans designed by absent teachers.
interpersonal — Course content AI-assisted; live teaching and assessment human
Teach classes in area of specialization.
#22403 · Core · 78% automatable
Take class attendance and maintain attendance records.
data analysis — Maintain structured student records in databases
Maintain student records.
#22402 · Core · 30% automatable
Supervise students during activities outside the classroom, such as recess, lunch, and field trips.
interpersonal — Live supervision of students is inherently human presence
Supervise school or student activities.
#22405 · Core · 25% automatable
Teach social skills to students, such as communication, conflict resolution, and etiquette.
interpersonal — Daily living skills taught in person with feedback
Teach daily living skills or behaviors. Teach life skills.
#22406 · Core · 55% automatable
Tutor or assist students individually or in small groups.
interpersonal — AI can tutor content; diagnosing learner needs is human
Tutor students who need extra assistance.
#22393 · Core · 30% automatable
Distribute or collect tests or homework assignments.
physical manipulation — Physically handing out materials to people
Distribute instructional or library materials.
#22394 · Core · 30% automatable
Distribute teaching materials, such as textbooks, workbooks, papers, and pencils, to students.
physical manipulation — Physically handing out materials to people
Distribute instructional or library materials.
#22404 · Core · 50% automatable
Teach a variety of subjects, such as English, mathematics, and social studies.
interpersonal — Course content AI-assisted; live teaching and assessment human
Teach classes in area of specialization.
#22398 · Core · 25% automatable
Operate equipment such as computers or audio-visual aids to supplement presentations.
physical manipulation — Operating computers is physical interface work
Operate audiovisual equipment. Operate computers or computerized equipment.
#22392 · Core · 60% automatable
Counsel students with adjustment or academic problems.
interpersonal — Career guidance drafted; mentor relationship human
Advise students on academic or career matters.
#22391 · Core · 18% automatable
Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, or teacher training workshops to improve professional competence.
interpersonal — Attending meetings requires physical human presence
Attend training sessions or professional meetings to develop or maintain professional knowledge.
#22400 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, or assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
interpersonal — In-person special-needs teaching and supervision
Assist students with special educational needs.
#22399 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Organize and supervise games or other recreational activities.
interpersonal — Extracurricular coordination needs on-site human supervision
Coordinate student extracurricular activities.
#22390 · Supplemental · 18% automatable
Assist students with boarding or exiting school buses.
interpersonal — Live supervision of students is inherently human presence
Supervise school or student activities. Assist patrons with entering or exiting vehicles or other forms of transportation.
#22397 · Supplemental · 70% automatable
Grade students' assignments and exams.
decision support — Grading aided; rubric judgment and accountability human
Evaluate student work.
#22401 · Supplemental · 70% automatable
Restock teaching materials or supplies.
data analysis — Materials inventory records and forecasting automatable
Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
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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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