Will AI replace Correctional Officers and Jailers?
Estimated risk score: 39 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 (20 to 58).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 26 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 33-3012.00 · Protective 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: 6 of its 26 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain records of prisoners' identification and charges.
- Record information, such as prisoner identification, charges, and incidents of inmate disturbance, keeping daily logs of prisoner activities.
- Use nondisciplinary tools and equipment, such as a computer.
- Conduct head counts to ensure that each prisoner is present.
- Provide to supervisors oral and written reports of the quality and quantity of work performed by inmates, inmate disturbances and rule violations, and unusual occurrences.
- Participate in required job training.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 17 of its 26 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Issue clothing, tools, and other authorized items to inmates.
- Search prisoners and vehicles and conduct shakedowns of cells for valuables and contraband, such as weapons or drugs.
- Take prisoners into custody and escort to locations within and outside of facility, such as visiting room, courtroom, or airport.
- Use weapons, handcuffs, and physical force to maintain discipline and order among prisoners.
- Assign duties to inmates, providing instructions as needed.
- Conduct fire, safety, and sanitation inspections.
What the job is
Guard inmates in penal or rehabilitative institutions in accordance with established regulations and procedures. May guard prisoners in transit between jail, courtroom, prison, or other point. Includes deputy sheriffs and police who spend the majority of their time guarding prisoners in correctional institutions.
Also called: Jailer, Corrections Officer (CO), CCO, PSO, Jailor, Matron, Jail Guard, Jailkeeper.
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