Park Naturalists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 12% 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 35% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 64% of the time, stays with people.
Plan, develop, and conduct programs to inform public of historical, natural, and scientific features of national, state, or local park.
$73,010 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on5 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet9 h
- Stays with people26 h
Park Naturalists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 5 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 9 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 26 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Plan and organize public events at the park (about 2 h); Develop environmental educational programs and curricula for schools (about 1 h); Research stories regarding the area's natural history or environment (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.
- 36%
- 21%
- 44%
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, 1%. Today's estimate: 12%.
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, 0.011% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 394th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 20 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0028% to 0.0025% (released February and March 2025); 0.005% to 0.0017% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.011% to 0.011% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0028% | 669 of 708 | 1 of 20 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0025% | 638 of 703 | 1 of 20 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.005% | 530 of 655 | 1 of 20 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0016% | 663 of 672 | 1 of 20 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0017% | 665 of 677 | 1 of 20 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 377 of 434 | 1 of 20 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 394 of 447 | 1 of 20 |
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 20% of this job's working time as physical work. For 4% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 3% in a purpose-built cell, 1% in a structured facility. 0.05 of 3, the 573rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 80%
- No robot shown 16%
- In a purpose-built cell 3%
- In a structured facility 1%
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 . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan, organize and direct activities of seasonal staff members.Done daily by most who do it. | 18% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan and organize public events at the park.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 15% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop environmental educational programs and curricula for schools.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 14% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.3 work weeks | 20%Half by May 2027 | |
| Assist with operations of general facilities, such as visitor centers.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct field trips to point out scientific, historic, and natural features of parks, forests, historic sites, or other attractions.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide visitor services, such as explaining regulations, answering visitor requests, needs and complaints, and providing information about the park and surrounding areas.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Survey park to determine forest conditions and distribution and abundance of fauna and flora.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Construct historical, scientific, and nature visitor-center displays.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | Stays with people | |
| Prepare and present illustrated lectures and interpretive talks about park features.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Provide care for park program animals.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Research stories regarding the area's natural history or environment.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.1 work days | 76%Half by now | |
| Perform routine maintenance on park structures.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, FANUC P-350iA/45 paint robot (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 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). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Park Naturalists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 12% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 35% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (32% to 36% across the three paces the site shows). 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 Park Naturalists 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: Plan and organize public events at the park (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Develop environmental educational programs and curricula for schools (20% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Research stories regarding the area's natural history or environment (76% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Park Naturalists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Plan, organize and direct activities of seasonal staff members; Assist with operations of general facilities, such as visitor centers; and Conduct field trips to point out scientific, historic, and natural features of parks, forests, historic sites, or other attractions. Together such tasks are about 64% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Park Naturalists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.011% went to this job's tasks, the 394th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 20 tasks appeared. 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 Park Naturalists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 20% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 4% of the working time, 1% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.05 of 3. One example: Skydio 3D Scan (X2/X10) for "take photographs and motion pictures for use in lectures and publications and to develop displays". 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 20 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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