AI exposure: Credit Counselors
Advise and educate individuals or organizations on acquiring and managing debt. May provide guidance in determining the best type of loan and explain loan requirements or restrictions. May help develop debt management plans or student financial aid packages. May advise on credit issues, or provide budget, mortgage, bankruptcy, or student financial aid counseling.
Reading this score
computed41.4% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Credit Counselors at the 74th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 3.1 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 23 tasks it averages 2.22 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations, at 80.0%. The least is Negotiate with creditors on behalf of clients to arrange for payment adjustments, interest rate..., at 6.7%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within business and financial operations occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 47.5% across the group's 48 roles, with 32 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 23 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 11 assisted and 1 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
23 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculate clients' available monthly income to meet debt obligations. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.76 | exposed |
| Estimate time for debt repayment, given amount of debt, interest rates, and available funds. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.55 | exposed |
| Maintain or update records of client account activity, including financial transactions, counseling session notes, correspondence, document images, or client inquiries. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.58 | exposed |
| Advise clients or respond to inquiries about financial matters in person or via phone, email, Web site, or Internet chat. | 49.6% | 37.9% | 12.5% | 4.67 | exposed |
| Assess clients' overall financial situations by reviewing income, assets, debts, expenses, credit reports, or other financial information. | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | 4.86 | assisted |
| Review changes to financial, family, or employment situations to determine whether changes to existing debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets are needed. | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | 4.45 | assisted |
| Prepare written documents to establish contracts with or communicate financial recommendations to clients. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.39 | exposed |
| Explain services or policies to clients, such as debt management program rules, advantages and disadvantages of using services, or creditor concession policies. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Refer clients to social service or community resources for needs beyond those of credit or debt counseling. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.89 | exposed |
| Investigate missing checks, payment histories, held funds, returned checks, or other related issues to resolve client or creditor problems. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.00 | exposed |
| Explain loan information to clients, such as available loan types, eligibility requirements, or loan restrictions. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Disburse funds from client accounts to creditors. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.00 | exposed |
| Explain general financial topics to clients, such as credit report ratings, bankruptcy laws, consumer protection laws, wage attachments, or collection actions. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.65 | assisted |
| Recommend educational materials or resources to clients on matters, such as financial planning, budgeting, or credit. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.52 | assisted |
| Teach courses or seminars on topics, such as budgeting, management of personal finances, or financial literacy. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.00 | assisted |
| Recommend strategies for clients to meet their financial goals, such as borrowing money through loans or loan programs, declaring bankruptcy, making budget adjustments, or enrolling in debt management plans. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.67 | assisted |
| Advise clients on housing matters, such as housing rental, homeownership, mortgage delinquency, or foreclosure prevention. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 3.90 | assisted |
| Interview clients by telephone or in person to gather financial information. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.60 | exposed |
| Create debt management plans, spending plans, or budgets to assist clients to meet financial goals. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 4.90 | assisted |
| Prioritize client debt repayment to avoid dire consequences, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure or to reduce overall costs, such as by paying high-interest or short-term loans first. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 4.52 | assisted |
| Create action plans to assist clients in obtaining permanent housing via rent or mortgage programs. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 3.81 | assisted |
| Conduct research to help clients avoid repossessions or foreclosures or remove levies or wage garnishments. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 3.50 | assisted |
| Negotiate with creditors on behalf of clients to arrange for payment adjustments, interest rate reductions, time extensions, or payment plans. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 3.58 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 3.11 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.09 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.02 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.04 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.22 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.13 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.