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Clerical support workers · code 4213

Pawnbrokers and money-lenders

AI can price a watch from a photo. Spotting a fake in your hand is still a pawnbroker.

Valuing pawned items, working out interest and making loans are where AI could take a fair chunk. Collecting loans and keeping records are mostly out of its reach.

What they actually do (and what else they get called)

Pawnbrokers and money-lenders lend money against articles deposited as pledges, or against property or other security. Tasks include - (a) evaluating articles offered as pledges, calculating interest, and lending money; (b) returning articles when the loan is paid or, in the event of non-payment, selling pledged articles; (c) lending money as personal loans against success of future harvest and other similar undertakings; (d) collecting loans when the pledge involved the success of future harvest and other similar undertakings; (e) keeping a record of items received and money distributed and received.; Examples of the occupations classified here: - Money-lender - Pawnbroker

  • pawnbroker

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

52 / 100

Changing significantly

AI could do a real share of the everyday tasks. The job is changing shape, not vanishing.

Not the odds you keep your job. It's how much of the everyday work still needs a person, out of 100.

← Robot's turf Human's turf →

The ILO's official verdict: Exposed: Gradient 2

369 of 427 for holding up against AI

Why this score?

The ILO rated each of this job's 5 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 48.1 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 48.1 = 51.9.

That's the whole sum. No black box, no secret sauce: you can check it against the ILO's study. ILO group “Exposed: Gradient 2”: A good share of the tasks are affected.

There's no close match for this job in the US data, so we can't say how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools.

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Man v Bot · compare

Who holds up better?

Pawnbrokers and money-lenders 52

v

Go on, try your partner's job. Or your sibling's. We won't tell.

Man v Bot

Where the bot helps, and where the human wins

Bot

What AI takes

The routine stuff. You may not miss it.

  • Pricing items.
  • Loan records.
  • Interest calculations.

Man

What people still do better

Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.

  • Examining items in person.
  • Spotting fakes.
  • Dealing with customers.

Both

What's arriving

New work that only exists because the AI does.

  • Online pawn services.
  • AI pricing tools.
  • Lending regulation.

Written by a human, from the ILO's task ratings below. Yes, we see the irony. Read it as one person's take.

Meet your two rivals

They're not the same machine. AI software can only reach the parts of a job done on a screen or in words. A chatbot can't climb a ladder. A robot might, one day, if it doesn't fall off.

The AI

Lives in a screen. Never had to fix a boiler.

Threat level: Medium

42 could do without you

It could take over some of the work, and help with more. It could help with 63 of 100.

The robot

The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.

– how hands-on

We don't have a hands-on measure for this job.

The job, task by task

Every job is really a bundle of tasks. Here's this one unpacked, with how much of each AI could do, out of 100. The score is the average, and averages can hide a lot.

AI's favourite task here scores 55, against an average of 48. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.

  1. 55

    Evaluating articles offered as pledges, calculating interest, and lending money

    Medium
  2. 52

    Lending money as personal loans against success of future harvest and other similar undertakings

    Medium
  3. 49

    Returning articles when the loan is paid or, in the event of non-payment, selling pledged articles

    Low
  4. 45

    Collecting loans when the pledge involved the success of future harvest and other similar undertakings

    Low
  5. 40

    Keeping a record of items received and money distributed and received.

    Low

5 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Sidekick or replacement?

A tool that makes you faster is a very different thing from one that does the task while you watch. Jobs and Skills Australia measured the two separately, which is handy.

AI helps you
63
AI does it for you
42

Sidekick wins, by 21 points.

How good a match is this?

One Australian job matches this one closely, so this is about as reliable as it gets here.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 6211

So, should pawnbrokers be worried?

Short answer: not worried, but paying attention. The job is changing.

Parts of it are changing. Valuing pledges and lending are rated Medium; returns and sales, collections and records are Low. AI pricing tools help; handling items and customers stays human.

Worth remembering: we score tasks, not jobs. When AI takes on a task, the job usually reshuffles around it rather than vanishing.

Where this job could lead

None of the new jobs we've written up start from here yet. Could be you're the first. See the jobs AI is creating →

How are the neighbours doing?

There are 29 jobs in the “Clerical support workers” family, averaging 46. This one is above the family average.

Pit this against any other job →