Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Design, media, and writing / 27-2023.00

Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

Officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events. Detect infractions of rules and decide penalties according to established regulations. Includes all sporting officials, referees, and competition judges.

US jobs
15,780
Median wage
$40,710 a year
Job family
Design, media, and writing

Can agents do the work of umpires, referees, and other sports officials?

We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Design, media, and writing:

  • Task levelPartialOnly adjacent evidence. OSWorld-Verified includes tasks in image, slide, and document apps, and the best agent passes 90.2% of all its computer tasks. No task-level benchmark in our collection scores the quality of design or writing work.
  • Project levelNot yetOn the Remote Labor Index, which includes graphic design, video, 3D, audio, and web projects from freelance platforms, the best agent completed 15.8% of projects to a standard a client would accept. GDPval deliverables score higher (84.9% wins or ties against professionals, reported by OpenAI), but those tasks are one-shot and fully specified.

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in design, media, and writing, not always this occupation's tasks.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed.
  • Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.
  • Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations.
  • Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition.
  • Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport.
  • Inspect sporting equipment or examine participants to ensure compliance with event and safety regulations.
  • Report to regulating organizations regarding sporting activities, complaints made, and actions taken or needed, such as fines or other disciplinary actions.
  • Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems.
  • Judge performances in sporting competitions to award points, impose scoring penalties, and determine results.
  • Verify scoring calculations before competition winners are announced.
  • Start races and competitions.
  • Compile scores and other athletic records.
Other job titles for this occupation (53)

Basketball Referee · Diving Judge · Dressage Judge · Football Referee · Horse Show Judge · Major League Baseball Umpire (MLB Umpire) · Referee · Soccer Referee · Softball Umpire · Sports Official · Athletic Events Scorer · Baseball Coach · Baseball Umpire · Basketball Manager · Basketball Scorekeeper · Clerk of Scales · Clocker · Dance Critic · Equestrian Events Judge · Flag Football Referee · Handicapper · Harness Racing Handicapper · Hoof and Shoe Inspector · Horse Identifier · Horse Race Starter · Horse Race Timer · Intramural Sports Official · League Coordinator · Marshal · Paddock Judge · Patrol Judge · Pit Steward · Placing Judge · Presiding Steward · Race Starter · Racetrack Steward · Racing Secretary · Scoreboard Operator · Scorekeeper · Scorer · Soccer Official · Sports Activities Foul Judge · Starter · State Referee · Stewardess · Test Scorer · Timekeeper · Ultimate Hoops Referee · Umpire · Volleyball Official · Volleyball Referee · Youth Soccer Referee · Youth Sports Official