Motorboat Operators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 5% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 95% of the time, stays with people.
Operate small motor-driven boats. May assist in navigational activities.
2,480 people do this job in the US. $47,520 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on2 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people38 h
Motorboat Operators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 2 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 38 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Arrange repairs, fuel, and supplies for vessels (about 2 h); Report any observed navigational hazards to authorities (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 5%
- 0%
- 95%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 4%. Today's estimate: 5%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0019% to none (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0019% | 637 of 655 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 84% of this job's working time as physical work. For 63% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 16% in a purpose-built cell, 7% in a structured facility, 40% in any setting. 1.49 of 3, the 20th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 16%
- No robot shown 21%
- In a purpose-built cell 16%
- In a structured facility 7%
- In any setting 40%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oversee operation of vessels used for carrying passengers, motor vehicles, or goods across rivers, harbors, lakes, and coastal waters.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, MF Estelle (Zeabuz ZeaMaster autonomy / Zeam service) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 28% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate engine throttles and steering mechanisms to guide boats on desired courses.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in any setting, MF Estelle (Zeabuz autonomy, Zeam/Torghatten operator) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Tow, push, or guide other boats, barges, logs, or rafts.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SM300 autonomy system aboard the tug Nellie Bly (Machine Odyssey) (Sea Machines Robotics / Damen Shipyards) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain desired courses, using compasses or electronic navigational aids.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in any setting, SM300 autonomy system aboard tug Nellie Bly ("The Machine Odyssey") (Sea Machines Robotics) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Organize and direct the activities of crew members.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min13 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain equipment such as range markers, fire extinguishers, boat fenders, lines, pumps, and fittings.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform general labor duties such as repairing booms.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Follow safety procedures to ensure the protection of passengers, cargo, and vessels.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean boats and repair hulls and superstructures, using hand tools, paint, and brushes.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Wilder Systems robotic aircraft wash (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Arrange repairs, fuel, and supplies for vessels.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Service motors by performing tasks such as changing oil and lubricating parts.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Issue directions for loading, unloading, and seating in boats.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Motorboat Operators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 5% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 5% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Motorboat Operators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Arrange repairs, fuel, and supplies for vessels (100% of the task's time now); and Report any observed navigational hazards to authorities (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Motorboat Operators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Oversee operation of vessels used for carrying passengers, motor vehicles, or goods across rivers, harbors, lakes, and coastal waters; Operate engine throttles and steering mechanisms to guide boats on desired courses; and Tow, push, or guide other boats, barges, logs, or rafts. Together such tasks are about 95% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Motorboat Operators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Motorboat Operators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 84% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 63% of the working time, 40% in any setting. Its index is 1.49 of 3. One example: MF Estelle (Zeabuz autonomy, Zeam/Torghatten operator) for "operate engine throttles and steering mechanisms to guide boats on desired courses". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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