How over is it?

A mood ring wired to real instruments

AI exposure Office and administrative support

Will AI replace couriers and messengers?

Couriers and Messengers. US occupation 43-5021.

4.1%

of the time couriers and messengers spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of couriers and messengers' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.

Ranked 271 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 63% of them.Further along than 63% of them.

Average US job 7.7%

Around the middle of the pack.Keeping pace with the average job.

What AI already does for couriers and messengersWhat couriers and messengers no longer do alone

O*NET lists 16 tasks for couriers and messengers. AI use at work shows up in 1 of them. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.

  1. Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.Core task mostly automated 0.92

What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human

15 of the 16 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.

  • Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.Core task
  • Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.Core task
  • Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.Core task
  • Perform routine maintenance on delivery vehicles, such as monitoring fluid levels and replenishing fuel.Core task
  • Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.Core task
  • Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.Core task
Show the other 9
  • Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.Core task
  • Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.Core task
  • Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.Core task
  • Check with home offices after completed deliveries to confirm deliveries and collections and to receive instructions for other deliveries.
  • Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
  • Open, sort, and distribute incoming mail.
  • Perform general office or clerical work, such as filing materials, operating duplicating machines, or running errands.
  • Unload goods from large trucks, and load them onto smaller delivery vehicles.
  • Use telephone to deliver verbal messages.

How that compares

Among the 50 office and administrative support occupations, couriers and messengers rank 37. The group averages 19.1%, and its most exposed job is Customer Service Representatives at 70.1%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.

All 756 occupations, ranked

Just above in the ranking

  1. 267Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers 4.3%
  2. 267Sales Managers 4.3%
  3. 271Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers 4.1%

Just below

  1. 275Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 4.0%
  2. 275Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare 4.0%
  3. 275Therapists, All Other 4.0%

What this does and does not mean

Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.

A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.

Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.