AI exposure: Motorboat Operators
Operate small motor-driven boats. May assist in navigational activities.
Reading this score
computedAt 14.3% of weighted task load, Motorboat Operators sits at the 22th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 68.8% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 16 tasks it averages 2.25 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Arrange repairs, fuel, and supplies for vessels, at 80.0%. The least is Perform general labor duties such as repairing booms, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% 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 transportation and material moving occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 24.3% across the group's 52 roles, with 40 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 16 tasks, 2 are currently banded exposed, 3 assisted and 11 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
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 | 1.16 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.25 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.41 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.34 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.84 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.97 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrange repairs, fuel, and supplies for vessels. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.23 | exposed |
| Report any observed navigational hazards to authorities. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.38 | assisted |
| Issue directions for loading, unloading, and seating in boats. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Organize and direct the activities of crew members. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.55 | assisted |
| Oversee operation of vessels used for carrying passengers, motor vehicles, or goods across rivers, harbors, lakes, and coastal waters. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.38 | assisted |
| Take depth soundings in turning basins. | 20.0% | 5.0% | 75.0% | 3.58 | untouched |
| Operate engine throttles and steering mechanisms to guide boats on desired courses. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.77 | untouched |
| Direct safety operations in emergency situations. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.64 | untouched |
| Maintain desired courses, using compasses or electronic navigational aids. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.61 | untouched |
| Tow, push, or guide other boats, barges, logs, or rafts. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Follow safety procedures to ensure the protection of passengers, cargo, and vessels. | 2.5% | 10.0% | 87.5% | 4.51 | untouched |
| Secure boats to docks with mooring lines, and cast off lines to enable departure. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.63 | untouched |
| Maintain equipment such as range markers, fire extinguishers, boat fenders, lines, pumps, and fittings. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.42 | untouched |
| Service motors by performing tasks such as changing oil and lubricating parts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Clean boats and repair hulls and superstructures, using hand tools, paint, and brushes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Perform general labor duties such as repairing booms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.42 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.