Security Guards vs Transportation Security Screeners
Security Guards carries the higher exposed share at 22.4% against 19.5%, a gap of 2.9 points. The difference is driven by friction: the work is similarly producible in both, and what differs is what stands in the way of letting a machine finish it. Release v2026.Q3.
| Occupation | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Capability | Friction | Median pay | Rank | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security Guards | 22.4% | 15.8% | 61.8% | 0.38 | 0.56 | $38,020 | 539 | untouched |
| Transportation Security Screeners | 19.5% | 23.2% | 57.4% | 0.43 | 0.63 | $66,770 | 610 | untouched |
What stands in the way, in each
Security Guards: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.38 of 1 and friction at 0.56 of 1.
Transportation Security Screeners: the dominant friction is that checking the output costs about as much as producing it. Capability sits at 0.43 of 1 and friction at 0.63 of 1.
Capability asks whether a generally available system can produce the work product at all. Friction asks what stops it finishing the job: physical work, being present, being accountable, unseen context, or the cost of checking the output. The rubric is here.
Read each in full
Exposure is not displacement. A higher score does not rank two jobs by how safe they are, and nothing here models adoption, employment or pay.