Will transportation security screeners be replaced by AI?
Updated
Transportation security screeners score 26 of 100 for AI exposure. 58% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 4% today and speed up another 38%.
- 4% AI can do it
- 38% AI helps
- 58% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 69% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 26 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 10 and leaves 15 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Record information about any baggage that sets off alarms in monitoring equipment. Alarm details are logged from machine data, routine digital recording. | 60% AI can do it |
| View images of checked bags and cargo, using remote screening equipment, and alert baggage screeners or handlers to any possible problems. Computer vision already flags bag image problems, human confirms alerts. | 50% AI helps |
| Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation. AI flags threat items on scanner images, but screener still judges. | 45% AI helps |
| Provide directions and respond to passenger inquiries. Chatbots and apps can answer routine questions, in person directions remain. | 40% AI helps |
| Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through. Alarm data can guide the search decision, but person decides. | 35% AI helps |
| Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur. Breach reports could be drafted by AI, but screener must notify. | 30% AI helps |
| Contact leads or supervisors to discuss objects of concern that are not on prohibited object lists. Describing unlisted concerns to leads, AI could summarize and draft. | 30% AI helps |
| Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification. Ticket data can be checked digitally, but ID matching stays in person. | 25% AI helps |
| Inform passengers of how to mail prohibited items to themselves, or confiscate these items. Mailing guidance can be scripted, but confiscation is physical. | 22% AI helps |
| Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives. Short safety messages to coworkers, could be templated or flagged. | 20% AI helps |
Show the other 16 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Monitor passenger flow through screening checkpoints to ensure order and efficiency. Video analytics can count flow, but live oversight stays human. | 20% AI helps |
| Watch for potentially dangerous persons whose pictures are posted at checkpoints. Visual watch for posted faces done by eye at checkpoint. | 12% Needs a person |
| Locate suspicious bags pictured in printouts sent from remote monitoring areas, and set these bags aside for inspection. Physically locating matching bags from printouts on the floor. | 12% Needs a person |
| Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment. Physically loading bags into machines and sorting them aside. | 10% Needs a person |
| Contact police directly in cases of urgent security issues, using phones or two-way radios. Urgent live radio or phone calls need immediate human action. | 10% Needs a person |
| Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems. Physical swabbing and machine testing need hands on operation. | 8% Needs a person |
| Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering. Visual and physical check of bag seals and condition. | 8% Needs a person |
| Direct passengers to areas where they can pick up their baggage after screening is complete. Physically guiding passengers to baggage claim areas. | 8% Needs a person |
| Confiscate dangerous items and hazardous materials found in opened bags and turn them over to airlines for disposal. Physically removing hazardous items from opened bags. | 6% Needs a person |
| Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons. Hands on physical bag search with no meaningful AI role. | 5% Needs a person |
| Close entry areas following security breaches or reopen areas after receiving notification that the airport is secure. Physical area closure and reopening requires on site authority. | 5% Needs a person |
| Challenge suspicious people, requesting their badges and asking what their business is in a particular areas. Face to face challenge of people needs live judgment and presence. | 5% Needs a person |
| Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them. Physically following a person until police arrive. | 3% Needs a person |
| Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors. Live in person instructions while passengers remove items. | 3% Needs a person |
| Patrol work areas to detect any suspicious items. Physical patrol of work areas requires being on site. | 3% Needs a person |
| Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches. In person body search requires physical presence and touch. | 2% Needs a person |
How transportation security screeners compare
All occupations (923)
Protective service (26)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $66,770 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 50,290 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- -4.2% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Run X-ray image review on carry-on bags in the screening checkpoint
- Resolve alarm alerts from walk-through metal detectors and hand wands
- Hold a TSA screener certification and pass recurrent image recognition tests
- Log alarm incidents and breach reports in Microsoft Word and Excel
- Lead physical pat-down and hand-bag searches on flagged passengers and bags
- Notify supervisors through Slack and email during security breaches
Safer roles nearby
A related occupation with a lower score.
Questions about transportation security screeners and AI
Will AI replace transportation security screeners?
Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours of a transportation security screener's day go to tasks AI can already do, mostly recording alarm details and reviewing bag images on remote screening equipment. Pat-downs, hand bag searches, and decisions on flagged passengers stay with people because they need a person on site.
Which transportation security screener tasks is AI taking over?
Logging alarm data is the most exposed task, with an exposure score of 60, because AI can record alarm details straight from machine output. Computer vision also flags problems in checked bag and cargo images, with an exposure score of 50, so the screener mainly confirms those alerts and decides what happens next.
Which transportation security screener tasks stay human?
Pat-down and hand-wand searches stay human with an exposure score of 2, because they need physical presence and touch. Hand searches of suspect bags, with an exposure score of 5, and following people who breach security until police arrive, with an exposure score of 3, also depend on a person on site.
How can transportation security screeners stay valuable?
Focus on hands-on work that needs a person on site, such as pat-downs and hand bag searches, and hold the TSA screener certification current. Learn to review AI alerts on X-ray images closely, since you make the final call on each flagged bag. Keep clear written breach reports in Microsoft Word and Outlook for supervisors.
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