Will AI replace Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
22/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 38% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 36% of the work
What the job involves
Command or supervise operations of ships and water vessels, such as tugboats and ferryboats. Required to hold license issued by U.S. Coast Guard.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(10)
- Direct courses and speeds of ships, based on specialized knowledge of local winds, weather, water depths, tides, currents, and hazards.
- Consult maps, charts, weather reports, or navigation equipment to determine and direct ship movements.
- Serve as a vessel's docking master upon arrival at a port or at a berth.
- Prevent ships under navigational control from engaging in unsafe operations.
- Operate ship-to-shore radios to exchange information needed for ship operations.
and 5 more
Out of reach(20)
- Steer and operate vessels, using radios, depth finders, radars, lights, buoys, or lighthouses.
- Dock or undock vessels, sometimes maneuvering through narrow spaces, such as locks.
- Inspect vessels to ensure efficient and safe operation of vessels and equipment and conformance to regulations.
- Stand watches on vessels during specified periods while vessels are under way.
- Maintain boats or equipment on board, such as engines, winches, navigational systems, fire extinguishers, or life preservers.
and 15 more
Also called
Harbor Pilot · River Pilot · Tugboat Captain · Boat Pilot · Docking Pilot · Ferry Captain · Port Captain · Towboat Captain
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