AI exposure: Social and Human Service Assistants
Assist other social and human service providers in providing client services in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, or social work, including support for families. May assist clients in identifying and obtaining available benefits and social and community services. May assist social workers with developing, organizing, and conducting programs to prevent and resolve problems relevant to substance abuse, human relationships, rehabilitation, or dependent care.
Reading this score
computedSocial and Human Service Assistants is one of the unusual cases where capability and friction are both high. Current systems can produce a great deal of this work, with average capability across its tasks at 1.9 out of 4. Only 26.6% of the weighted task load comes out as exposed, because 23.4% of it runs into something structural. Jobs in this band tend not to disappear. They change shape, and the person stays.
What holds the line here is presence. Across this occupation's 19 tasks it averages 1.95 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, a person has to be the one present. This is the friction software does not erode. Where the point of the act is that a human is there, to care or to witness or to take responsibility in the room, automating the output misses what was being paid for.
The most exposed thing this job does is Submit reports and review reports or problems with superior, at 73.3%. The least is Transport and accompany clients to shopping areas or to appointments, 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 community and social service occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 14 roles in the group is 24.4%, and only 5 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 19 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. 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 | 1.89 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.29 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.95 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.34 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.95 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.58 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Roles in this band tend to change shape rather than disappear. The output gets drafted faster and the person moves toward review, judgment and accountability. The useful question is not whether to use these tools but who is trusted to sign off on what they produce.
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submit reports and review reports or problems with superior. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Keep records or prepare reports for owner or management concerning visits with clients. | 70.0% | 30.0% | 0.0% | 3.98 | exposed |
| Inform tenants of facilities, such as laundries or playgrounds. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 2.61 | exposed |
| Explain rules established by owner or management, such as sanitation or maintenance requirements or parking regulations. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.02 | exposed |
| Provide information or refer individuals to public or private agencies or community services for assistance. | 42.5% | 32.5% | 25.0% | 3.64 | exposed |
| Develop and implement behavioral management and care plans for clients. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.14 | assisted |
| Observe clients' food selections and recommend alternate economical and nutritional food choices. | 29.2% | 33.3% | 37.5% | 2.90 | assisted |
| Observe and discuss meal preparation and suggest alternate methods of food preparation. | 29.2% | 33.3% | 37.5% | 2.87 | assisted |
| Assist in locating housing for displaced individuals. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.78 | exposed |
| Consult with supervisor concerning programs for individual families. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 3.50 | assisted |
| Demonstrate use and care of equipment for tenant use. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 3.34 | untouched |
| Interview individuals or family members to compile information on social, educational, criminal, institutional, or drug history. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.75 | untouched |
| Assist in planning food budgets, using charts or sample budgets. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.14 | untouched |
| Assist clients with preparation of forms, such as tax or rent forms. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.05 | untouched |
| Advise clients regarding food stamps, child care, food, money management, sanitation, or housekeeping. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.40 | untouched |
| Oversee day-to-day group activities of residents in institution. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Assess clients' cognitive abilities and physical and emotional needs to determine appropriate interventions. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Visit individuals in homes or attend group meetings to provide information on agency services, requirements, or procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Transport and accompany clients to shopping areas or to appointments, using automobile. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.83 | 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.