# Will childcare workers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Childcare workers score 29 of 100 for AI exposure. 68% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 9% today and speed up another 23%. - **9%** AI can do it - **23%** AI helps - **68%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 64% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 24 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 6 and leaves 16 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Create developmentally appropriate lesson plans. AI drafts age appropriate lesson plans well, staff review. | 72% AI can do it | | Keep records on individual children, including daily observations and information about activities, meals served, and medications administered. Daily logs and meal or medication records are routine documentation. | 70% AI can do it | | Perform general administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, editing internal paperwork, and making phone calls. Attendance and forms automate well, phone calls still human. | 55% AI helps | | Communicate with children's parents or guardians about daily activities, behaviors, and related issues. AI can draft parent updates, worker still sends and judges. | 50% AI helps | | Help children with homework and school work. AI can explain homework help, but adult guides the child. | 45% AI helps | ## How childcare workers compare All occupations (923) Personal care and service (31) **Childcare workers score 29**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 30 for personal care and service. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $34,980 a year, May 2025 People employed 518,910 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs \-2.0% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Dress, feed, and bathe children in person - Hold a current CPR and first aid certification - Write daily observation notes in Tadpoles or Seesaw - Review AI-drafted lesson plans against developmental milestones - Hold a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential - Edit parent updates in Microsoft Word before sending ## Safer roles nearby 2 related occupations with lower scores. - [Home health aides16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/home-health-aides/) - [Nursing assistants16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/nursing-assistants/) ## Questions about childcare workers and AI Will AI replace childcare workers? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drafting lesson plans and keeping daily records on each child. Hands-on care stays with people, since dressing, feeding, bathing, and supervising play need a worker physically present with the child. Which childcare tasks is AI taking over? Lesson planning and child record keeping are the most exposed, with exposure scores of 72 and 70. AI drafts age-appropriate lesson plans, and it fills daily logs and meal or medication records from notes. Staff still review each plan and check every record before it is filed. Which childcare tasks stay human? Hands-on care makes up 68% of task weight and stays human. Diaper changes, dressing children, and escorting them to school or appointments score 2 or 3 on exposure because they need a body in the room. Sanitizing toys and doing laundry also score 5, since cleaning manually is manual work. How can childcare workers stay valuable? Hold CPR and first aid certification, and write observation notes in Tadpoles or Seesaw that parents trust. Review every AI-drafted lesson plan against developmental milestones before class. Adapt plans in Google Classroom or Nearpod to the children in your room. Keep hands-on care routines strong, since that work stays with people. ## Related jobs - [Preschool teachers29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/preschool-teachers/) - [Kindergarten teachers29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/kindergarten-teachers/) - [Health education specialists57 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/health-education-specialists/) - [High school special education teachers42 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-school-special-education-teachers/) ## Next steps for childcare workers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.