Human edge, steady

First-line supervisors of correctional officers

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of correctional officers and jailers.

AI Resistance Index 36 of 99

Changing faster than most: more resilient than 36% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is moderate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -2.5% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on ethical judgement and emotional intelligence.

AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.

Median pay (2025): $77,970
Job growth to 2035: -2.5%
Openings a year: 3,700
People doing it (2025): 56,300
Usual route in: High school diploma

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Where people already use AI for this work

Maintain safety or security
Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
Determine operational methods or procedures

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Supervise activities in correctional facilities
Intervene in crisis situations or emergencies
Direct organizational operations, activities, or procedures

What the work looks like

Take, receive, or check periodic inmate counts.
Maintain order, discipline, and security within assigned areas in accordance with relevant rules, regulations, policies, and laws.
Maintain knowledge of, comply with, and enforce all institutional policies, rules, procedures, and regulations.
Respond to emergencies, such as escapes.
Supervise and direct the work of correctional officers to ensure the safe custody, discipline, and welfare of inmates.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as states reduce their reliance on private prisons.
Fewer of these jobs, as states seek to reduce prison populations.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Police and sheriff's patrol officersGrows with AI, Index 62, +3.5%
Transit and railroad policeHuman edge, steady, Index 73, +3.2%
First-line supervisors of security workersHuman edge, growing, Index 80, +3.7%
Correctional officers and jailersHuman edge, steady, Index 47, -7.4%

Also known as: Correctional Officer Captain, Correctional Supervisor.

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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.