AI exposure: Non-Destructive Testing Specialists
Test the safety of structures, vehicles, or vessels using x-ray, ultrasound, fiber optic or related equipment.
Reading this score
computedAt 27.9% of weighted task load, Non-Destructive Testing Specialists sits at the 50th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 53.3% 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 16 tasks it averages 1.90 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 Prepare reports on non-destructive testing results, at 73.3%. The least is Conduct liquid penetrant tests to locate surface cracks by coating objects with fluorescent..., at 8.3%. A gap of 65.0% 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 architecture and engineering occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 37.5% across the group's 56 roles, with 51 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 16 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 11 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 | 1.79 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.90 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.48 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.44 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.46 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.52 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare reports on non-destructive testing results. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.73 | exposed |
| Document non-destructive testing methods, processes, or results. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.55 | exposed |
| Interpret the results of all methods of non-destructive testing (NDT), such as acoustic emission, electromagnetic, leak, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, neutron radiographic, radiographic, thermal or infrared, ultrasonic, vibration analysis, and visual testing. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.77 | exposed |
| Interpret or evaluate test results in accordance with applicable codes, standards, specifications, or procedures. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.77 | exposed |
| Develop or use new non-destructive testing methods, such as acoustic emission testing, leak testing, and thermal or infrared testing. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.76 | assisted |
| Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials. | 23.2% | 18.5% | 58.3% | 4.64 | untouched |
| Make radiographic images to detect flaws in objects while leaving objects intact. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.74 | untouched |
| Visually examine materials, structures, or components for signs of corrosion, metal fatigue, cracks, or other flaws, using tools and equipment such as endoscopes, closed-circuit television systems, and fiber optics. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.62 | untouched |
| Produce images of objects on film, using radiographic techniques. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Map the presence of imperfections within objects, using sonic measurements. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.32 | untouched |
| Evaluate material properties, using radio astronomy, voltage and amperage measurement, or rheometric flow measurement. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.42 | untouched |
| Examine structures or vehicles such as aircraft, trains, nuclear reactors, bridges, dams, and pipelines, using non-destructive testing techniques. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.58 | untouched |
| Identify defects in solid materials, using ultrasonic testing techniques. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.75 | untouched |
| Supervise or direct the work of non-destructive testing trainees or staff. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Identify defects in concrete or other building materials, using thermal or infrared testing. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.53 | untouched |
| Conduct liquid penetrant tests to locate surface cracks by coating objects with fluorescent dyes, cleaning excess penetrant, and applying developer. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.41 | 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.