Trades and AI glossary

Research terms

AI exposure

The extent to which a study judges an occupation's tasks or required abilities could be affected by AI. It says nothing on its own about whether a tool will be adopted, a worker will be helped, or a job will disappear. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

AI complementarity

The possibility that AI helps someone perform part of their work while their judgement and other tasks remain important. A job can be highly exposed to AI and still have scope for tools to complement its workers. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the AI Security Institute.

AIOE score

An occupational exposure score built by relating AI capabilities to abilities used in an occupation group. The Department for Education uses it for comparisons, while warning that a relative score is not a precise measure of employment impact. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Augmentation

A change in which a tool supports a person doing a task, such as drafting information for a worker to check. It differs from substitution, and an exposure index alone does not establish which outcome will follow. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Automation and substitution

Automation means technology performs some work that people previously did. Substitution is the narrower possibility that it takes over a task or role. A study of what is technically possible is not proof that an employer will make that change. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Displacement scenario

A model of what could happen to work under stated assumptions about technology and adoption. Scenarios help compare possibilities; they should not be reported as observations or reliable predictions for a particular worker. Institute for Public Policy Research.

Task-based analysis

A way of examining the separate activities inside a job rather than treating its title as a single indivisible unit. It can reveal that information tasks and physical site tasks face different kinds of change. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Generative AI

Software that can create text, images or other outputs in response to instructions. Its ability to draft or summarise material can affect parts of a job, while saying little about the physical work carried out on site. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the AI Security Institute.

Large language model

A system trained to process and generate language. The Department for Education reports a separate exposure ranking for language modelling, which can differ from its broader measure covering other AI applications. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

AI agent

Software that can take a sequence of steps towards a goal using AI tools. The name describes a way of arranging software, not proof that it can perform every task in an occupation or carry legal responsibility for work. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the AI Security Institute.

Exposure versus adoption

Exposure estimates where AI could affect tasks; adoption records whether people or organisations actually use a tool. A high exposure estimate can coexist with limited use, and neither measure alone counts jobs lost. Office for National Statistics.

AI applicability

A judgement about where an AI capability might be useful for a work activity. Microsoft's US preprint measured it from chatbot conversations. It is narrower than a forecast of employment, because usefulness does not show whether a business will buy the tool or change staffing. Microsoft Research (arXiv preprint).

Occupation, job and task

An occupation is a statistical group, a job is someone's actual role, and a task is one activity within it. Research often assigns a group score, so two people in the same occupation can have quite different day-to-day work. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

SOC code

A Standard Occupational Classification identifier used to group related work in official statistics. The Department for Education's exposure ranking uses 365 groups under SOC 2010; the code is a category, not a personal score.^[1] Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Early-career effect

A possible difference in how new entrants and experienced workers are affected by a technology. Evidence about one age or experience group should be read with its country, sample and time period, rather than generalised to everyone. Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Knowledge work

Work centred on information, language, analysis or decisions. Some studies find these activities more exposed to current text tools than many physical tasks, but any one role can contain both kinds of work. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

O*NET

A US database describing the abilities and activities each occupation involves. The Department for Education's ranking maps it onto UK occupation groups, because there is no equivalent UK database, so a UK rank inherits US job descriptions. Department for Education (Unit for Future Skills).

Preprint

A research paper shared publicly before, or instead of, formal peer review. arXiv says the material it hosts is not peer-reviewed by arXiv, so we label preprints, such as Microsoft's study of chatbot use, wherever we cite them. arXiv.

Official statistics in development

A label for new or changing official statistics. The ONS figures on business use of AI carry it, and the ONS says results from newly added survey questions should be read as early indications. Office for National Statistics.

Workforce forecast

An estimate of how many extra workers an industry will need, given assumptions about future output and people leaving. CITB's construction outlook is one; it measures recruitment needed, not vacancies open today. Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

Apprenticeship

A paid job combined with training and study, with at least a fifth of normal working hours set aside for learning in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own apprenticeship systems. Department for Education (GOV.UK guide).

Free Courses for Jobs

An England scheme that pays course fees for some adult qualifications, including some Level 2 courses in construction, for people who meet its age and earnings conditions. A funded place is not a job offer. Department for Work and Pensions.

Advanced Learner Loan

A repayable loan for eligible college or training courses in England, repaid once income passes a threshold. GOV.UK advises asking the provider about a grant first for Level 3 courses, which does not need repaying. Student Loans Company (GOV.UK guide).

“AI-proof”

A search phrase people use when asking about their future work, not a research term: the government review cited here does not use it. We use it only as a question, because research compares exposure and possible changes but cannot promise that any occupation will stay the same. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the AI Security Institute.

Electrical route terms: notifiable work, ECS card and AM2.