# Transportation Security Screeners

> Conduct screening of passengers, baggage, or cargo to ensure compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. May operate basic security equipment such as x-ray machines and hand wands at screening checkpoints.

- **SOC code:** 33-9093.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-33-9093-00
- **Also known as:** Security Screener, Transportation Security Officer (TSO), Airline Security Representative, Airport Baggage Screener, Airport Screener, Airport Security Screener, Bag Checker, Baggage Inspector
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.
- Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.
- View images of checked bags and cargo, using remote screening equipment, and alert baggage screeners or handlers to any possible problems.
- Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification.
- Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems.
- Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches.
- Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur.
- Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment.
- Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.
- Locate suspicious bags pictured in printouts sent from remote monitoring areas, and set these bags aside for inspection.
- Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them.
- Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Public Safety and Security _(knowledge)_
- Selective Attention _(ability)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Flexibility of Closure _(ability)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Monitoring _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Linux _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Oracle Java _(hot technology)_
- Slack _(hot technology)_
- Applicant tracking software
- Email software
- Oracle Taleo
- Rapiscan Threat Image Projection
- Web browser software

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 51st percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 35th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 45th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 72nd percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -6.0% growth (Declining); 4.7k annual openings; 50.1k → 47.1k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $63,360; 46,340 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 51% automation, — augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Provide directions and respond to passenger inquiries. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me provide directions and respond to passenger inquiries.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-33-9093-00_