Will AI replace Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers?
Estimated risk score: 5 out of 100
Very low 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 (0 to 24).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 27 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 37-3011.00 · Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
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: 0 of its 27 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
None of its rated tasks.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 25 of its 27 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Attach wires from planted trees to support stakes.
- Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
- Decorate gardens with stones or plants.
- Follow planned landscaping designs to determine where to lay sod, sow grass, or plant flowers or foliage.
- Gather and remove litter.
- Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
What the job is
Landscape or maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment. Workers typically perform a variety of tasks, which may include any combination of the following: sod laying, mowing, trimming, planting, watering, fertilizing, digging, raking, sprinkler installation, and installation of mortarless segmental concrete masonry wall units.
Also called: Groundskeeper, Grounds Maintenance Worker, Outside Maintenance Worker, Sexton, Sodder, Greensman, Lawn Tech, Sod Layer.
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