AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 25-3031.00
Will AI replace Substitute Teachers, Short-Term?
Substitute Teachers, Short-Term: AI can already handle 7 of 18 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample: send this role and up to nine others, and a founder sends a board-pack PDF within two business days.
Every task, scored
The 18 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Substitute Teachers, Short-Term, from most to least exposed. 7 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer students' questions. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Tutor or assist students individually or in small groups. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, or assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Supervise students during activities outside the classroom, such as recess, lunch, and field trips. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Organize and supervise games or other recreational activities. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Assist students with boarding or exiting school buses. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Distribute or collect tests or homework assignments. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Follow lesson plans designed by absent teachers. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Counsel students with adjustment or academic problems. | Observed | Standard | |
| Grade students' assignments and exams. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Teach social skills to students, such as communication, conflict resolution, and etiquette. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Distribute teaching materials, such as textbooks, workbooks, papers, and pencils, to students. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Teach a variety of subjects, such as English, mathematics, and social studies. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Restock teaching materials or supplies. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, or teacher training workshops to improve professional competence. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Enforce school and class rules to maintain order in the classroom. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Take class attendance and maintain attendance records. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Operate equipment such as computers or audio-visual aids to supplement presentations. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 4 of 18 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 14 of 18. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 89% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 524,770
- Median annual wage
- $41,670
- Middle half of earners
- $34,170 to $54,890
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +1.6%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure37
- Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure37
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education 60% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure52
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure40
- Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure41
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Substitute Teachers, Short-Term and AI
Will AI replace Substitute Teachers, Short-Term?
AI already handles 7 of the 18 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 53 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +1.6% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Substitute Teachers, Short-Term?
53 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 4 of the 18 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 14 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Substitute Teachers, Short-Term tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Answer students' questions; Tutor or assist students individually or in small groups; Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, or assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms. They are three of the 7 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 89% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Substitute Teachers, Short-Term, and what do they earn?
524,770 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $41,670 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +1.6% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/substitute-teachers-short-term
Have a team in this role?
Get your free 10-role sample. Send this role and up to nine others, with no employee data, and a founder sends a PDF in board-pack format within two business days.
A founder replies within one business day.