Will AI replace Animal Caretakers?
Estimated risk score: 30 out of 100
Lower 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 (11 to 49).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 22 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 39-2021.00 · Personal Care and Service
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: 4 of its 22 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Answer telephones and schedule appointments.
- Respond to questions from patrons, and provide information about animals, such as behavior, habitat, breeding habits, or facility activities.
- Sell pet food and supplies.
- Collect and record animal information, such as weight, size, physical condition, treatments received, medications given, and food intake.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 15 of its 22 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Do facility laundry and clean, organize, maintain, and disinfect animal quarters, such as pens and stables, and equipment, such as saddles and bridles.
- Exercise animals to maintain their physical and mental health.
- Feed and water animals according to schedules and feeding instructions.
- Perform animal grooming duties, such as washing, brushing, clipping, and trimming coats, cutting nails, and cleaning ears.
- Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species.
- Provide treatment to sick or injured animals, or contact veterinarians to secure treatment.
What the job is
Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, race horses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.
Also called: Aquarist, Kennel Technician (Kennel Tech), ACG, Bather, Keeper, Walker, Farrier, Ringman.
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