---
title: "Will AI Replace Lifeguards? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates lifeguards' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+5.5% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-lifeguards"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Lifeguards? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates lifeguards among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places lifeguards in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +5.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 45,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 65/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +5.5% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 45,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $33,580 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Assisting and caring for others: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Email: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Rescue distressed persons, using rescue techniques and equipment.
- Contact emergency medical personnel in case of serious injury.
- Patrol or monitor recreational areas, such as trails, slopes, or swimming areas, on foot, in vehicles, or from towers.
- Examine injured persons and administer first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, if necessary, using training and medical supplies and equipment.
- Instruct participants in skiing, swimming, or other recreational activities and provide safety precaution information.
- Warn recreational participants of inclement weather, unsafe areas, or illegal conduct.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Paramedic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paramedic): BLS exposure Low, median $60,600; [Will AI replace paramedics?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-paramedics)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace lifeguards?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates lifeguards among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +5.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 45,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are lifeguards to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Lifeguards are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a lifeguard, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service worker's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, email and getting information. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, performing general physical activities and face-to-face discussions. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a lifeguard, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service worker a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, lifeguards score 65 out of 100, higher than 93% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $33,580 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to lifeguards are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/lifeguard-ski-patrol-and-other-recreational-protective-service-worker.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology