Will AI replace Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education?

What this score means

Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education leans toward the safer end for Education. Parts of the role touch tasks AI is getting good at, but the core still depends on hands on work or judgment that resists automation. At 27 out of 100 it scores 12 points below the Education average of 39. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 15 to 43, 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 Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education, most central first, showing 12 of 28.

• 01Supervise students in classrooms, halls, cafeterias, school yards, and gymnasiums, or on field trips.
• 02Tutor and assist children individually or in small groups to help them master assignments and to reinforce learning concepts presented by teachers.
• 03Enforce administration policies and rules governing students.
• 04Teach social skills to students.
• 05Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
• 06Discuss assigned duties with classroom teachers to coordinate instructional efforts.
• 07Present subject matter to students under the direction and guidance of teachers, using lectures, discussions, supervised role-playing methods, or by reading aloud.
• 08Clean classrooms.
• 09Observe students' performance, and record relevant data to assess progress.
• 10Organize and label materials and display students' work in a manner appropriate for their eye levels and perceptual skills.
• 11Organize and supervise games and other recreational activities to promote physical, mental, and social development.
• 12Attend staff meetings and serve on committees, as required.

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 3 research sources that scored Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
• 02GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
• 03AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education?

Published research puts Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education at 27 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 3 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education?

Only partly. Individual estimates for Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education run from 15 to 43 out of 100 across the 3 sources behind this score, so the single number smooths over real disagreement. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in it.

Which education roles face similar AI exposure?

The closest published education roles to Teaching Assistants, Preschool, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary School, Except Special Education by score are Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School (27/100), Special Education Teachers, Elementary School (27/100), and Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten (28/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

BSIP Instructional Aide (Basic Skills Improvement Program Instructional Aide) · Bilingual Teacher Aide · Classroom Aide · Classroom Assistant · Early Childhood Teacher Assistant (EC Teacher Assistant) · Education Paraprofessional · Educational Assistant · Educational Assistant Teacher and related titles

More education occupations

• Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten28/100
• Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School27/100
• Special Education Teachers, Elementary School27/100
• Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School26/100
• Special Education Teachers, All Other26/100
• Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education25/100
• Museum Technicians and Conservators25/100
• Special Education Teachers, Preschool25/100