AI exposure: Parts Salespersons
Sell spare and replacement parts and equipment in repair shop or parts store.
Reading this score
computed44.8% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Parts Salespersons at the 81th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.4 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
No single friction dominates this occupation. The strongest is context at 1.39 out of 3 and the weakest is presence at 0.45, which is a narrow spread. Where nothing structural stands in the way, exposure tracks capability almost directly, and capability is the thing that changes every quarter.
The most exposed thing this job does is Manage shipments by researching shipping methods or costs and tracking packages, at 86.7%. The least is Repair parts or equipment, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% 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 sales occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 50.0% across the group's 22 roles, with 17 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 19 tasks, 14 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 5 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take capability alone, since there is little structural friction here to slow adoption once a system can do the work. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manage shipments by researching shipping methods or costs and tracking packages. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Advise customers on substitution or modification of parts when identical replacements are not available. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.03 | exposed |
| Discuss use and features of various parts, based on knowledge of machines or equipment. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.85 | exposed |
| Pick up and deliver parts. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.62 | exposed |
| Assist customers, such as responding to customer complaints and updating them about back-ordered parts. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.64 | exposed |
| Fill customer orders from stock, and place orders when requested items are out of stock. | 64.2% | 23.3% | 12.5% | 4.59 | exposed |
| Locate and label parts, and maintain inventory of stock. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.55 | exposed |
| Read catalogs, microfiche viewers, or computer displays to determine replacement part stock numbers and prices. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Determine replacement parts required, according to inspections of old parts, customer requests, or customers' descriptions of malfunctions. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Receive and fill telephone orders for parts. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 4.56 | exposed |
| Receive payment or obtain credit authorization. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.71 | exposed |
| Prepare sales slips or sales contracts. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Demonstrate equipment to customers, and explain functioning of equipment. | 39.6% | 22.9% | 37.5% | 3.77 | exposed |
| Examine returned parts for defects, and exchange defective parts or refund money. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.28 | exposed |
| Mark and store parts in stockrooms, according to prearranged systems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Maintain and clean work and inventory areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Place new merchandise on display. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.09 | untouched |
| Measure parts, using precision measuring instruments, to determine whether similar parts may be machined to required sizes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.66 | untouched |
| Repair parts or equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.46 | 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 | 2.42 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.16 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.45 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.63 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.39 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.79 | 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.