AI exposure: Retail Loss Prevention Specialists
Implement procedures and systems to prevent merchandise loss. Conduct audits and investigations of employee activity. May assist in developing policies, procedures, and systems for safeguarding assets.
Reading this score
computedAt 21.3% of weighted task load, Retail Loss Prevention Specialists sits at the 39th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 52.9% 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 context. Across this occupation's 21 tasks it averages 2.26 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 Maintain documentation or reports on security-related incidents or investigations, at 73.3%. The least is Respond to critical incidents, at 0.0%. 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 protective service occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 26 roles in the group is 18.3%, and only 7 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 21 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 9 assisted and 8 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 | 1.86 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.62 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.93 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.76 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.26 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.00 | 0-3 |
Task by task
21 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain documentation or reports on security-related incidents or investigations. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.52 | exposed |
| Prepare written reports on investigations. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.34 | exposed |
| Coordinate with risk management, human resources, or other departments to assist in company programs, investigations, or training. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.09 | exposed |
| Recommend methods to reduce potential financial fraud losses. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.17 | assisted |
| Recommend new or improved processes or equipment to reduce risk exposure. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.91 | assisted |
| Identify and report merchandise or stock shortages. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.56 | assisted |
| Identify and report safety concerns to maintain a safe shopping and working environment. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.44 | assisted |
| Train establishment personnel in loss prevention activities. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Conduct employee background investigations and review reports with operational or human resources managers. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.89 | assisted |
| Implement or monitor processes to reduce property or financial losses. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.58 | assisted |
| Conduct store audits to identify problem areas or procedural deficiencies. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.43 | assisted |
| Monitor compliance with standard operating procedures for loss prevention, physical security, or risk management. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.40 | assisted |
| Investigate known or suspected internal theft, external theft, or vendor fraud. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.69 | assisted |
| Verify proper functioning of physical security systems, such as closed-circuit televisions, alarms, sensor tag systems, or locks. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.51 | untouched |
| Inspect buildings, equipment, or access points to determine security risks. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.39 | untouched |
| Perform covert surveillance of areas susceptible to loss, such loading docks, distribution centers, or warehouses. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.38 | untouched |
| Direct work of contract security officers or other loss prevention agents. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Collaborate with law enforcement agencies to report or investigate crimes. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.32 | untouched |
| Apprehend shoplifters in accordance with guidelines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Testify in civil or criminal court proceedings. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.28 | untouched |
| Respond to critical incidents, such as catastrophic events, violent weather, or civil disorders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.04 | 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.