Will AI replace Fire Inspectors and Investigators?
Estimated risk score: 35 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 (16 to 54).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 30 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 33-2021.00 · 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: 4 of its 30 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Write detailed reports of fire inspections performed, fire code violations observed, and corrective recommendations offered.
- Prepare and maintain reports of investigation results, and records of convicted arsonists and arson suspects.
- Attend training classes to maintain current knowledge of fire prevention, safety, and firefighting procedures.
- Issue permits for public assemblies.
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 30 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Conduct fire exit drills to monitor and evaluate evacuation procedures.
- Package collected pieces of evidence in securely closed containers, such as bags, crates, or boxes, to protect them.
- Conduct fire code compliance follow-ups to ensure that corrective actions have been taken in cases where violations were found.
- Conduct inspections and acceptance testing of newly installed fire protection systems.
- Coordinate efforts with other organizations, such as law enforcement agencies.
- Inspect and test fire protection or fire detection systems to verify that such systems are installed in accordance with appropriate laws, codes, ordinances, regulations, and standards.
What the job is
Inspect buildings to detect fire hazards and enforce local ordinances and state laws, or investigate and gather facts to determine cause of fires and explosions.
Also called: Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, Arson Investigator, Fire Prevention Inspector, CFEI, CVFI, K9 Handler, Code Official.
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