AI exposure: Computer User Support Specialists
Provide technical assistance to computer users. Answer questions or resolve computer problems for clients in person, via telephone, or electronically. May provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software, including printing, installation, word processing, electronic mail, and operating systems.
Reading this score
computed50.6% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Computer User Support Specialists at the 89th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.8 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 16 tasks it averages 1.65 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Oversee the daily performance of computer systems, at 80.0%. The least is Set up equipment for employee use, performing or ensuring proper installation of cables,..., at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within computer and mathematical occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 57.8% across the group's 36 roles, with 27 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 16 tasks, 13 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 3 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oversee the daily performance of computer systems. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.99 | exposed |
| Answer user inquiries regarding computer software or hardware operation to resolve problems. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.79 | exposed |
| Maintain records of daily data communication transactions, problems and remedial actions taken, or installation activities. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.47 | exposed |
| Prepare evaluations of software or hardware, and recommend improvements or upgrades. | 67.2% | 24.4% | 8.3% | 3.39 | exposed |
| Read trade magazines and technical manuals, or attend conferences and seminars to maintain knowledge of hardware and software. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 3.04 | exposed |
| Read technical manuals, confer with users, or conduct computer diagnostics to investigate and resolve problems or to provide technical assistance and support. | 61.1% | 22.2% | 16.7% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Inspect equipment and read order sheets to prepare for delivery to users. | 57.5% | 17.5% | 25.0% | 3.21 | exposed |
| Enter commands and observe system functioning to verify correct operations and detect errors. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.57 | exposed |
| Refer major hardware or software problems or defective products to vendors or technicians for service. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.40 | exposed |
| Modify and customize commercial programs for internal needs. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 2.89 | exposed |
| Conduct office automation feasibility studies, including workflow analysis, space design, or cost comparison analysis. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.17 | exposed |
| Develop training materials and procedures, or train users in the proper use of hardware or software. | 41.7% | 20.8% | 37.5% | 3.30 | exposed |
| Confer with staff, users, and management to establish requirements for new systems or modifications. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Install and perform minor repairs to hardware, software, or peripheral equipment, following design or installation specifications. | 21.5% | 11.8% | 66.7% | 3.77 | untouched |
| Hire, supervise, and direct workers engaged in special project work, problem-solving, monitoring, and installation of data communication equipment and software. | 16.2% | 21.2% | 62.5% | 2.93 | untouched |
| Set up equipment for employee use, performing or ensuring proper installation of cables, operating systems, or appropriate software. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.94 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.83 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.54 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.56 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.75 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.65 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.27 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.