Job Check
Security Guards
Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Lock doors and gates of entrances and exits to secure buildings.Mostly human for now
- 02Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates.Mostly human for now
- 03Respond to medical emergencies by administering basic first aid or by obtaining assistance from paramedics.Mostly human for now
- 04Answer alarms and investigate disturbances.Mostly human for now
- 05Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property.Mostly human for now
- 06Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.Mostly human for now
- 07Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences.AI could speed this up a lot
- 08Warn persons of rule infractions or violations, and apprehend or evict violators from premises, using force when necessary.Mostly human for now
- 09Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed.AI could speed this up a lot
- 10Call police or fire departments in cases of emergency, such as fire or presence of unauthorized persons.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
17%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 46% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 88% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Lock doors and gates of entrances and exits to secure buildings.
- Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates.
- Respond to medical emergencies by administering basic first aid or by obtaining assistance from paramedics.