Tour Guides and Escorts
In short: today's best AI models could do about 20% 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 23% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 77% of the time, stays with people.
Escort individuals or groups on sightseeing tours or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.
$38,120 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 on8 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people31 h
Tour Guides and Escorts, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 8 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 31 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary (about 6 h); Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas (about 2 h); Perform clerical duties, such as filing, typing, operating switchboards, or routing mail and messages (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.
- 23%
- 0%
- 77%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
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, 7%. Today's estimate: 20%.
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, 0.032% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 289th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 19 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.017% to 0.068% (released February and March 2025); 0.03% to 0.047% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.034% to 0.032% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.017% | 466 of 708 | 3 of 19 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.068% | 219 of 703 | 2 of 19 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.03% | 305 of 655 | 2 of 19 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.028% | 339 of 672 | 2 of 19 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.047% | 258 of 677 | 2 of 19 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.034% | 281 of 434 | 3 of 19 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.032% | 289 of 447 | 3 of 19 |
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 38% of this job's working time as physical work. For 34% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 3% in a purpose-built cell, 31% in a structured facility. 0.66 of 3, the 269th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 62%
- No robot shown 3%
- In a purpose-built cell 3%
- In a structured facility 31%
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 . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Lindsey tour guide robot (L-CAS, University of Lincoln) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 23% | 2.5 h38 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 18% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | 86%Half by now | |
| Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 50 min13 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive motor vehicles to transport visitors to establishments and tour site locations.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Waymo Driver / Waymo One (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide for physical safety of groups, performing such activities as providing first aid or directing emergency evacuations.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min13 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct educational activities for school children.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Provide information about wildlife varieties and habitats, as well as any relevant regulations, such as those pertaining to hunting and fishing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min8 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Assemble and check the required supplies and equipment prior to departure.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RightPick (RightHand Robotics) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Train other guides and volunteers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Solicit tour patronage and sell souvenirs.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 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 Tour Guides and Escorts is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 20% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 23% 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 Tour Guides and Escorts 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: Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary (86% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas (99% of the task's time now); and Perform clerical duties, such as filing, typing, operating switchboards, or routing mail and messages (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Tour Guides and Escorts stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries; Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices; and Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions. Together such tasks are about 77% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Tour Guides and Escorts?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.032% went to this job's tasks, the 289th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 19 tasks appeared. 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 Tour Guides and Escorts?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 38% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 34% of the working time, 31% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.66 of 3. One example: Lindsey tour guide robot (L-CAS, University of Lincoln) for "escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries". 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 19 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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