AI exposure: Avionics Technicians
Install, inspect, test, adjust, or repair avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles.
Reading this score
computedAt 20.9% of weighted task load, Avionics Technicians sits at the 38th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 67.0% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 13 tasks it averages 2.27 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Keep records of maintenance and repair work, at 73.3%. The least is Assemble prototypes or models of circuits, instruments, and systems for use in testing, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within installation, maintenance and repair occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 50 roles in the group is 12.8%, and only 11 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 13 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.37 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.27 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.33 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.09 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.29 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.38 | 0-3 |
Task by task
13 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep records of maintenance and repair work. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Interpret flight test data to diagnose malfunctions and systemic performance problems. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Coordinate work with that of engineers, technicians, and other aircraft maintenance personnel. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Operate computer-aided drafting and design applications to design avionics system modifications. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.32 | exposed |
| Lay out installation of aircraft assemblies and systems, following documentation such as blueprints, manuals, and wiring diagrams. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Test and troubleshoot instruments, components, and assemblies, using circuit testers, oscilloscopes, or voltmeters. | 16.2% | 21.2% | 62.5% | 4.26 | untouched |
| Set up and operate ground support and test equipment to perform functional flight tests of electrical and electronic systems. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Adjust, repair, or replace malfunctioning components or assemblies, using hand tools or soldering irons. | 4.8% | 3.5% | 91.7% | 4.36 | untouched |
| Connect components to assemblies such as radio systems, instruments, magnetos, inverters, and in-flight refueling systems, using hand tools and soldering irons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Install electrical and electronic components, assemblies, and systems in aircraft, using hand tools, power tools, or soldering irons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Assemble components such as switches, electrical controls, and junction boxes, using hand tools or soldering irons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.78 | untouched |
| Fabricate parts and test aids as required. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.61 | untouched |
| Assemble prototypes or models of circuits, instruments, and systems for use in testing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.25 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.