AI exposure: Robotics Technicians
Build, install, test, or maintain robotic equipment or related automated production systems.
Reading this score
computedAt 21.8% of weighted task load, Robotics Technicians sits at the 40th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 61.8% 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 22 tasks it averages 2.02 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 Maintain service records of robotic equipment or automated production systems, at 73.3%. The least is Fabricate housings, jigs, fittings, or fixtures, 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 architecture and engineering occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 37.5% across the group's 56 roles, with 55 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 22 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 10 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 | 1.54 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.02 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.39 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.98 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.70 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.64 | 0-3 |
Task by task
22 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maintain service records of robotic equipment or automated production systems. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Document robotics test procedures and results. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.53 | exposed |
| Troubleshoot robotic systems, using knowledge of microprocessors, programmable controllers, electronics, circuit analysis, mechanics, sensor or feedback systems, hydraulics, or pneumatics. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Maintain inventories of robotic production supplies, such as sensors or cables. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.21 | exposed |
| Develop three-dimensional simulations of automation systems. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.00 | exposed |
| Evaluate the efficiency and reliability of industrial robotic systems, reprogramming or calibrating to achieve maximum quantity and quality. | 27.8% | 22.2% | 50.0% | 3.83 | exposed |
| Modify computer-controlled robot movements. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.11 | exposed |
| Train customers or other personnel to install, use, or maintain robots. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.62 | exposed |
| Program complex robotic systems, such as vision systems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Develop robotic path motions to maximize efficiency, safety, and quality. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.79 | exposed |
| Train robots, using artificial intelligence software or interactive training techniques, to perform simple or complex tasks, such as designing and carrying out a series of iterative tests of chemical samples. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.27 | exposed |
| Assist engineers in the design, configuration, or application of robotic systems. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.53 | assisted |
| Install, program, or repair programmable controllers, robot controllers, end-of-arm tools, or conveyors. | 17.5% | 20.0% | 62.5% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Perform preventive or corrective maintenance on robotic systems or components. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.10 | untouched |
| Test performance of robotic assemblies, using instruments such as oscilloscopes, electronic voltmeters, or bridges. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.79 | untouched |
| Inspect installation sites. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.21 | untouched |
| Make repairs to robots or peripheral equipment, such as replacement of defective circuit boards, sensors, controllers, encoders, or servomotors. | 4.3% | 4.1% | 91.7% | 4.24 | untouched |
| Align, fit, or assemble components, using hand tools, power tools, fixtures, templates, or microscopes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Attach wires between controllers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Build or assemble robotic devices or systems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.60 | untouched |
| Install new robotic systems in stationary positions or on tracks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.33 | untouched |
| Fabricate housings, jigs, fittings, or fixtures, using metalworking machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.55 | 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.