Will AI replace Animal Trainers?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
14/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 25% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 14% of the work
What the job involves
Train animals for riding, harness, security, performance, or obedience, or for assisting persons with disabilities. Accustom animals to human voice and contact, and condition animals to respond to commands. Train animals according to prescribed standards for show or competition. May train animals to carry pack loads or work as part of pack team.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(2)
- Keep records documenting animal health, diet, or behavior.
- Advise animal owners regarding the purchase of specific animals.
Out of reach(13)
- Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.
- Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.
- Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.
- Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
- Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.
and 8 more
Also called
Dog Trainer · Horse Trainer · Racehorse Trainer · Animal Trainer · Dog Handler · Guide Dog Instructor · Guide Dog Mobility Instructor (GDMI) · Guide Dog Trainer
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics