UK AI Exposure · Associate professional occupations
Business associate professionals n.e.c.
Job holders in this unit group advise on the effectiveness of an organisation’s procedures, systems and methods and perform other business and related functions not elsewhere classified in minor group 354: Business associate professionals.
- Employees (UK)
- 99k
- Median annual pay
- £33,035
- Exposure score ?
- 6.4/10 High 9.3/10 Very high strict reading · with tools is 9.3/10 with-tools reading · strict is 6.4/10
- Wage exposure
- £2.09bn £3.04bn
Higher exposure than 98% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of the routine task inventory in this role can already be done by a capable LLM. That doesn't mean the role disappears - it means the shape changes, and one person can credibly do the work of several.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
Stop doing anything an LLM can do. Your edge is judgment, relationships, taste, and the parts of the work that require you to be in the room. The operators who notice this first and redesign their workflow around it will be paid for those things; the ones who cling to the old task list will compete against AI at AI's prices.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's language models. Roles at this level are getting rebuilt - often not by disappearing, but by one person using AI to do three or five people's output.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You don't need to be afraid. You need to be the person doing the rebuilding. The operators who learn to direct AI at scale in this kind of work become hugely valuable. The ones who wait to be told what to do get told what to do - and that thing is often 'we don't need as many of you anymore.'
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
These are the highest-importance tasks a language model can already handle directly today. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these, so they stop eating your team's time.
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Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
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Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
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Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
These are the highest-importance tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these — usually the difference between an LLM that can technically do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
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Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
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Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
The full task breakdown
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
Tasks via O*NET "Social Science Research Assistants" (19-4061.00).
What AI can already do
9 of 22 tasks · unaided
Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
Verify the accuracy and validity of data entered in databases, correcting any errors.
Edit and submit protocols and other required research documentation.
Perform data entry and other clerical work as required for project completion.
Code data in preparation for computer entry.
Track laboratory supplies and expenses such as participant reimbursement.
Provide assistance in the design of survey instruments such as questionnaires.
Where humans still hold the line
13 of 22 tasks
Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
Prepare tables, graphs, fact sheets, and written reports summarizing research results.
Recruit and schedule research participants.
Screen potential subjects to determine their suitability as study participants.
Track research participants, and perform any necessary follow-up tasks.
Develop and implement research quality control procedures.
Prepare, manipulate, and manage extensive databases.
Conduct internet-based and library research.
Present research findings to groups of people.
Supervise the work of survey interviewers.
Perform needs assessments or consult with clients to determine the types of research and information required.
Allocate and manage laboratory space and resources.
Tasks via O*NET "Social Science Research Assistants" (19-4061.00).
What AI can already do
20 of 22 tasks · with tools
Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
Prepare tables, graphs, fact sheets, and written reports summarizing research results.
Recruit and schedule research participants.
Screen potential subjects to determine their suitability as study participants.
Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
Track research participants, and perform any necessary follow-up tasks.
Verify the accuracy and validity of data entered in databases, correcting any errors.
Develop and implement research quality control procedures.
Prepare, manipulate, and manage extensive databases.
Edit and submit protocols and other required research documentation.
Perform data entry and other clerical work as required for project completion.
Code data in preparation for computer entry.
Track laboratory supplies and expenses such as participant reimbursement.
Conduct internet-based and library research.
Provide assistance in the design of survey instruments such as questionnaires.
Present research findings to groups of people.
Supervise the work of survey interviewers.
Perform needs assessments or consult with clients to determine the types of research and information required.
Where humans still hold the line
2 of 22 tasks
Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
Allocate and manage laboratory space and resources.
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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