AI exposure: Office Clerks, General
Perform duties too varied and diverse to be classified in any specific office clerical occupation, requiring knowledge of office systems and procedures. Clerical duties may be assigned in accordance with the office procedures of individual establishments and may include a combination of answering telephones, bookkeeping, typing or word processing, office machine operation, and filing.
Reading this score
computed57.1% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Office Clerks, General at the 94th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.9 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
No single friction dominates this occupation. The strongest is context at 1.27 out of 3 and the weakest is presence at 0.54, which is a narrow spread. Where nothing structural stands in the way, exposure tracks capability almost directly, and capability is the thing that changes every quarter.
The most exposed thing this job does is Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests, at 93.3%. The least is Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, at 0.0%. A gap of 93.3% 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 office and administrative support occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 51 roles in the group is 54.6%, and only 21 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 20 tasks, 16 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 4 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take capability alone, since there is little structural friction here to slow adoption once a system can do the work. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
20 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review files, records, and other documents to obtain information to respond to requests. | 93.3% | 6.7% | 0.0% | 3.91 | exposed |
| Answer telephones, direct calls, and take messages. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 4.34 | exposed |
| Type, format, proofread, and edit correspondence and other documents, from notes or dictating machines, using computers or typewriters. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 3.55 | exposed |
| Compute, record, and proofread data and other information, such as records or reports. | 83.3% | 16.7% | 0.0% | 3.76 | exposed |
| Complete work schedules, manage calendars, and arrange appointments. | 83.3% | 16.7% | 0.0% | 3.73 | exposed |
| Deliver messages and run errands. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.47 | exposed |
| Count, weigh, measure, or organize materials. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.22 | exposed |
| Prepare meeting agendas, attend meetings, and record and transcribe minutes. | 76.7% | 23.3% | 0.0% | 3.58 | exposed |
| Maintain and update filing, inventory, mailing, and database systems, either manually or using a computer. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Compile, copy, sort, and file records of office activities, business transactions, and other activities. | 64.2% | 23.3% | 12.5% | 3.99 | exposed |
| Complete and mail bills, contracts, policies, invoices, or checks. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.11 | exposed |
| Inventory and order materials, supplies, and services. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Communicate with customers, employees, and other individuals to answer questions, disseminate or explain information, take orders, and address complaints. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.28 | exposed |
| Process and prepare documents, such as business or government forms and expense reports. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Train other staff members to perform work activities, such as using computer applications. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.29 | exposed |
| Collect, count, and disburse money, do basic bookkeeping, and complete banking transactions. | 25.6% | 24.4% | 50.0% | 4.14 | exposed |
| Operate office machines, such as photocopiers and scanners, facsimile machines, voice mail systems, and personal computers. | 20.0% | 5.0% | 75.0% | 4.56 | untouched |
| Monitor and direct the work of lower-level clerks. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.68 | untouched |
| Open, sort, and route incoming mail, answer correspondence, and prepare outgoing mail. | 9.2% | 3.3% | 87.5% | 3.91 | untouched |
| Troubleshoot problems involving office equipment, such as computer hardware and software. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.95 | 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 | 2.90 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.82 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.54 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.66 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.27 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.64 | 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.