AI exposure: Genetic Counselors
Assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. Provide information to other healthcare providers or to individuals and families concerned with the risk of inherited conditions. Advise individuals and families to support informed decisionmaking and coping methods for those at risk. May help conduct research related to genetic conditions or genetic counseling.
Reading this score
computedGenetic Counselors is one of the unusual cases where capability and friction are both high. Current systems can produce a great deal of this work, with average capability across its tasks at 2.6 out of 4. Only 27.2% of the weighted task load comes out as exposed, because 36.2% of it runs into something structural. Jobs in this band tend not to disappear. They change shape, and the person stays.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 19 tasks it averages 2.63 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Identify funding sources and write grant proposals for eligible programs or services, at 73.3%. The least is Assess patients' psychological or emotional needs, at 10.0%. A gap of 63.3% 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 healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 89 roles in the group is 18.4%, and only 9 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 19 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 11 assisted and 2 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
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 | 2.55 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.36 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.47 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.50 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.89 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.63 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Roles in this band tend to change shape rather than disappear. The output gets drafted faster and the person moves toward review, judgment and accountability. The useful question is not whether to use these tools but who is trusted to sign off on what they produce.
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identify funding sources and write grant proposals for eligible programs or services. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 2.87 | exposed |
| Prepare or provide genetics-related educational materials to patients or medical personnel. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Write detailed consultation reports to provide information on complex genetic concepts to patients or referring physicians. | 53.3% | 46.7% | 0.0% | 4.71 | exposed |
| Interview patients or review medical records to obtain comprehensive patient or family medical histories, and document findings. | 42.6% | 40.7% | 16.7% | 4.90 | exposed |
| Analyze genetic information to identify patients or families at risk for specific disorders or syndromes. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.95 | exposed |
| Evaluate or make recommendations for standards of care or clinical operations, ensuring compliance with applicable regulations, ethics, legislation, or policies. | 37.5% | 37.5% | 25.0% | 3.95 | assisted |
| Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in genetics. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.71 | exposed |
| Determine or coordinate treatment plans by requesting laboratory services, reviewing genetics or counseling literature, and considering histories or diagnostic data. | 26.7% | 40.0% | 33.3% | 4.55 | assisted |
| Provide genetic counseling in specified areas of clinical genetics, such as obstetrics, pediatrics, oncology and neurology. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 4.95 | assisted |
| Engage in research activities related to the field of medical genetics or genetic counseling. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.57 | assisted |
| Collect for, or share with, research projects patient data on specific genetic disorders or syndromes. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.29 | assisted |
| Interpret laboratory results and communicate findings to patients or physicians. | 18.8% | 43.8% | 37.5% | 4.86 | assisted |
| Refer patients to specialists or community resources. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.35 | assisted |
| Discuss testing options and the associated risks, benefits and limitations with patients and families to assist them in making informed decisions. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.95 | assisted |
| Provide patients with information about the inheritance of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.86 | assisted |
| Explain diagnostic procedures such as chorionic villus sampling (CVS), ultrasound, fetal blood sampling, and amniocentesis. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.50 | assisted |
| Provide counseling to patient and family members by providing information, education, or reassurance. | 11.2% | 26.2% | 62.5% | 5.00 | untouched |
| Design and conduct genetics training programs for physicians, graduate students, other health professions or the general community. | 11.2% | 26.2% | 62.5% | 3.33 | untouched |
| Assess patients' psychological or emotional needs, such as those relating to stress, fear of test results, financial issues, and marital conflicts to make referral recommendations or assist patients in managing test outcomes. | 10.0% | 40.0% | 50.0% | 4.70 | assisted |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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.