Will AI replace Air Traffic Controllers?
Estimated risk score: 64 out of 100
Moderate replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (45 to 83).
Low confidence: the research disagrees with itself about this job (its tasks look automatable on paper but are rated as not sped up by AI).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 23 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 53-2021.00 · Transportation and Material Moving
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 12 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Complete daily activity reports and keep records of messages from aircraft.
- Review records or reports for clarity and completeness and maintain records or reports, as required under federal law.
- Check conditions and traffic at different altitudes in response to pilots' requests for altitude changes.
- Compile information about flights from flight plans, pilot reports, radar, or observations.
- Contact pilots by radio to provide meteorological, navigational, or other information.
- Determine the timing or procedures for flight vector changes.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 8 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Alert airport emergency services in cases of emergency or when aircraft are experiencing difficulties.
- Direct ground traffic, including taxiing aircraft, maintenance or baggage vehicles, or airport workers.
- Direct pilots to runways when space is available or direct them to maintain a traffic pattern until there is space for them to land.
- Inspect, adjust, or control radio equipment or airport lights.
- Monitor or direct the movement of aircraft within an assigned air space or on the ground at airports to minimize delays and maximize safety.
- Provide flight path changes or directions to emergency landing fields for pilots traveling in bad weather or in emergency situations.
What the job is
Control air traffic on and within vicinity of airport, and movement of air traffic between altitude sectors and control centers, according to established procedures and policies. Authorize, regulate, and control commercial airline flights according to government or company regulations to expedite and ensure flight safety.
Also called: Air Traffic Controller (ATC), Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS), Certified Professional Controller (CPC), Enroute Air Traffic Controller (Enroute ATC), ATC, Tower ATC, Center ATC, Enroute ATC.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Transportation and Material Moving). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate