Travel Guides
In short: today's best AI models could do about 39% 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 41% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 59% of the time, stays with people.
Plan, organize, and conduct long-distance travel, tours, and expeditions for individuals and groups.
$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 on16 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people24 h
Travel Guides, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 16 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 24 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Plan tour itineraries, applying knowledge of travel routes and destination sites (about 5 h); Arrange for tour or expedition details such as accommodations, transportation, equipment, and the availability of medical personnel (about 5 h); Evaluate services received on the tour, and report findings to tour organizers (about 2 h).
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.
- 41%
- 5%
- 54%
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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 39%.
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 17 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.039% to 0.049% (released February and March 2025); 0.041% to 0.046% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.039% | 316 of 708 | 3 of 17 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.049% | 275 of 703 | 4 of 17 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.041% | 269 of 655 | 3 of 17 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.037% | 288 of 672 | 4 of 17 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.046% | 260 of 677 | 5 of 17 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
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 55% of this job's working time as physical work. For 41% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 4% in a purpose-built cell, 38% in a structured facility. 0.79 of 3, the 225th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 45%
- No robot shown 13%
- In a purpose-built cell 4%
- In a structured facility 38%
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 . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lead individuals or groups to tour site locations and describe points of interest.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, SPENCER guide robot (EU SPENCER project / University of Twente with KLM) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan tour itineraries, applying knowledge of travel routes and destination sites.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 14% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Pilot airplanes or drive land and water vehicles to transport tourists to activity or tour sites.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Waymo Driver (Jaguar I-Pace robotaxi) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Arrange for tour or expedition details such as accommodations, transportation, equipment, and the availability of medical personnel.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Instruct novices in climbing techniques, mountaineering, and wilderness survival, and demonstrate use of hunting, fishing, and climbing equipment.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Sell travel packages.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up camps, and prepare meals for tour group members.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Market 19 autonomous dining facility robotic kitchen (U.S. Army 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command with industry robotic-kitchen partner) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Evaluate services received on the tour, and report findings to tour organizers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Resolve any problems with itineraries, service, or accommodations.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Attend to special needs of tour participants.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Verify amounts and quality of equipment prior to expeditions or tours.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Sell or rent equipment, clothing, and supplies related to expeditions.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Bear Spray Shack automated rental kiosk (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 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 Travel Guides is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 39% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 41% 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 Travel Guides 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 tour itineraries, applying knowledge of travel routes and destination sites (96% of the task's time now); Arrange for tour or expedition details such as accommodations, transportation, equipment, and the availability of medical personnel (96% of the task's time now); and Evaluate services received on the tour, and report findings to tour organizers (99% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Travel Guides stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Lead individuals or groups to tour site locations and describe points of interest; Pilot airplanes or drive land and water vehicles to transport tourists to activity or tour sites; and Instruct novices in climbing techniques, mountaineering, and wilderness survival, and demonstrate use of hunting, fishing, and climbing equipment. Together such tasks are about 59% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Travel Guides?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. 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 Travel Guides?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 55% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 41% of the working time, 38% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.79 of 3. One example: SPENCER guide robot for "lead individuals or groups to tour site locations and describe points of interest". 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 17 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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