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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Tour Guides and Escorts?
Task-level automation exposure for Tour Guides and Escorts: 19 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
39%
weighted task index
19 of 19 tasks scored
Median Salary
$38,120 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
53,500 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+6.3%
employment change
11,900 openings a year · BLS roll-up 39-7010
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$22,490 – $102,020
Highest medians
Virgin Islands $102,020
Washington $54,160
District of Columbia $49,210
Wyoming $47,020
California $46,000
Lowest medians
Iowa $22,490
Mississippi $27,460
Puerto Rico $27,860
West Virginia $28,570
Wisconsin $30,160
OEWS has no state row for this exact code, so figures come from the 39-7010 roll-up. 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 39%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 13%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 26%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 4%
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 11/100
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) 16%
3 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 48%
9 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 36%
7 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 →Constituent Tasks
#4540 · Core · 56% automatable
Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
interpersonal — Routine inquiries answerable; nuanced cases need human
Provide attraction or event information to patrons. Respond to customer inquiries.
#4539 · Core · 20% automatable
Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries.
interpersonal — Live guiding of patrons through physical spaces
Guide patrons on tours.
#4541 · Core · 35% automatable
Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices.
situated mobility — Requires live observation of patrons in physical space
Monitor patron activities to identify problems or potential problems.
#4538 · Core · 25% automatable
Conduct educational activities for school children.
interpersonal — Daily living skills taught in person with feedback
Teach daily living skills or behaviors.
#20135 · Core · 70% automatable
Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary.
information retrieval — Gather client info aided, relationship human
Gather information in order to provide services to clients.
#4544 · Core · 45% automatable
Provide directions and other pertinent information to visitors.
interpersonal — In-person directions need situated human presence
Provide patrons with directions to locales or attractions.
#4550 · Core · 40% automatable
Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas.
interpersonal — Event organizing aided; logistics and presence human
Organize recreational activities or events.
#4545 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Provide for physical safety of groups, performing such activities as providing first aid or directing emergency evacuations.
physical manipulation — Administering first aid requires physical intervention
Administer first aid.
#4553 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Assemble and check the required supplies and equipment prior to departure.
information retrieval — Digital tracking automatable; physical stock checks need humans
Monitor availability of equipment or supplies.
#4542 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Greet and register visitors, and issue any required identification badges or safety devices.
physical manipulation — Hands-on distribution of resources to people
Greet customers, patrons, or visitors. Distribute resources to patrons or employees.
#4543 · Supplemental · 56% automatable
Distribute brochures, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment processes and operations at tour sites.
information retrieval — AI explains policies; human handles live questions
Explain regulations, policies, or procedures. Provide attraction or event information to patrons.
#4554 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Drive motor vehicles to transport visitors to establishments and tour site locations.
situated mobility — Driving patrons requires human vehicle operation
Drive vehicles to transport patrons.
#20136 · Supplemental · 38% automatable
Train other guides and volunteers.
interpersonal — Service staff coaching is interpersonal and situational
Train service staff.
#4547 · Supplemental · 62% automatable
Provide information about wildlife varieties and habitats, as well as any relevant regulations, such as those pertaining to hunting and fishing.
information retrieval — AI explains policies; human handles live questions
Explain regulations, policies, or procedures.
#4549 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Teach skills, such as proper climbing methods, and demonstrate and advise on the use of equipment.
physical manipulation — Demonstrating techniques is physical, hands-on work
Demonstrate activity techniques or equipment use.
#4548 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Collect fees and tickets from group members.
physical manipulation — Collecting fares physically from customers
Collect fares or payment from customers.
#4555 · Supplemental · 60% automatable
Perform clerical duties, such as filing, typing, operating switchboards, or routing mail and messages.
text generation — Broad clerical tasks partly automatable, human oversees exceptions
Perform administrative or clerical tasks.
#4551 · Supplemental · 44% automatable
Solicit tour patronage and sell souvenirs.
text generation — Promotional materials drafted; human executes outreach
Sell products or services. Promote products, services, or programs.
#4552 · Supplemental · 47% automatable
Speak foreign languages to communicate with foreign visitors.
text generation — Translation well-handled; human reviews nuance
Translate information for others. Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.
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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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