Will AI replace Forest Fire Inspectors and Prevention Specialists?
Estimated risk score: 33 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 (14 to 52).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 16 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 33-2022.00 · 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: 3 of its 16 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain records and logbooks.
- Compile and report meteorological data, such as temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and velocity, and types of cloud formations.
- Relay messages about emergencies, accidents, locations of crew and personnel, and fire hazard conditions.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 11 of its 16 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Direct crews working on firelines during forest fires.
- Examine and inventory firefighting equipment, such as axes, fire hoses, shovels, pumps, buckets, and fire extinguishers, to determine amount and condition.
- Extinguish smaller fires with portable extinguishers, shovels, and axes.
- Restrict public access and recreational use of forest lands during critical fire seasons.
- Administer regulations regarding sanitation, fire prevention, violation corrections, and related forest regulations.
- Conduct wildland firefighting training.
What the job is
Enforce fire regulations, inspect forest for fire hazards, and recommend forest fire prevention or control measures. May report forest fires and weather conditions.
Also called: Forest Officer, Forest Patrolman, Fire Management Officer, Fire Prevention Technician, Towerman, Fire Ranger, Fire Warden, Fire Watcher.
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