Will AI replace Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers?

What this score means

Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers is among the least exposed roles in Facilities & Services. Most of what the job involves still sits outside what current AI can do, even as the tools around it keep changing. At 9 out of 100 it scores 8 points below the Facilities & Services average of 17. Across the 9 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 16, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers, most central first, showing 12 of 26.

• 01Mow or edge lawns, using power mowers or edgers.
• 02Rake, mulch, and compost leaves.
• 03Decorate gardens with stones or plants.
• 04Gather and remove litter.
• 05Use hand tools, such as shovels, rakes, pruning saws, saws, hedge or brush trimmers, or axes.
• 06Operate vehicles or powered equipment, such as mowers, tractors, twin-axle vehicles, snow blowers, chainsaws, electric clippers, sod cutters, or pruning saws.
• 07Water lawns, trees, or plants, using portable sprinkler systems, hoses, or watering cans.
• 08Prune or trim trees, shrubs, or hedges, using shears, pruners, or chain saws.
• 09Mix and spray or spread fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides onto grass, shrubs, or trees, using hand or automatic sprayers or spreaders.
• 10Care for established lawns by mulching, aerating, weeding, grubbing, removing thatch, or trimming or edging around flower beds, walks, or walls.
• 11Follow planned landscaping designs to determine where to lay sod, sow grass, or plant flowers or foliage.
• 12Trim or pick flowers and clean flower beds.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 9 research sources that scored Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026Anthropic
• 02Crashing Waves vs. Rising Tides: Preliminary Findings on AI Automation from Thousands of Worker Evaluations of Labor Market Tasks · 2026Mertens, Thompson et al., MIT FutureTech (2026)
• 03Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
• 04The AI Jobs Transition Framework: Mapping AI's Near-Term Impact on Jobs · 2026OpenAI Economic Research (2026)
• 05Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations · 2025Tomlinson, Jaffe et al., Microsoft Research (2025)
• 06A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond · 2024McKinsey Global Institute (2024)
• 07GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
• 08AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)
• 09Generative AI and the Future of Work in America · 2023McKinsey Global Institute (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers?

Published research puts Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers at 9 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 9 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers?

Broadly, yes. Individual estimates for Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers run from 5 to 16 out of 100 across the 9 sources behind this score, a fairly tight range. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

Which facilities & services roles face similar AI exposure?

The closest published facilities & services roles to Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers by score are Tree Trimmers and Pruners (10/100), Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (12/100), and Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners (13/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

Athletic Field Custodian · Bonsai Tender · Brush Cutter · Caretaker · Cemetery Keeper · Cemetery Laborer · Cemetery Warden · Cemetery Worker and related titles

More facilities & services occupations

• First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers29/100
• First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers28/100
• Pest Control Workers21/100
• Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation19/100
• Grounds Maintenance Workers, All Other15/100
• Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners13/100
• Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners12/100
• Tree Trimmers and Pruners10/100