AI exposure: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
Install, program, maintain, and repair security and fire alarm wiring and equipment. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes.
Reading this score
computedAt 25.1% of weighted task load, Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers sits at the 47th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 62.4% 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 1.75 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 Order replacement parts, at 80.0%. The least is Mount raceways and conduits and fasten wires to wood framing, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% 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 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 6 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 16 tasks, 7 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 | 1.72 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.75 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.50 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.16 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.31 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.50 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order replacement parts. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.73 | exposed |
| Demonstrate systems for customers and explain details, such as the causes and consequences of false alarms. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Prepare documents, such as invoices or warranties. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Keep informed of new products and developments. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 3.79 | exposed |
| Inspect installation sites and study work orders, building plans, and installation manuals to determine materials requirements and installation procedures. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 4.12 | exposed |
| Provide customers with cost estimates for equipment installation. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.91 | exposed |
| Consult with clients to assess risks and to determine security requirements. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Adjust sensitivity of units, based on room structures and manufacturers' recommendations, using programming keypads. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.99 | untouched |
| Examine systems to locate problems, such as loose connections or broken insulation. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.36 | untouched |
| Test backup batteries, keypad programming, sirens, or other security features to ensure proper functioning or to diagnose malfunctions. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Test and repair circuits and sensors, following wiring and system specifications. | 4.2% | 8.3% | 87.5% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Install, maintain, or repair security systems, alarm devices, or related equipment, following blueprints of electrical layouts and building plans. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.44 | untouched |
| Mount and fasten control panels, door and window contacts, sensors, or video cameras, and attach electrical and telephone wiring to connect components. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.44 | untouched |
| Feed cables through access holes, roof spaces, or cavity walls to reach fixture outlets, positioning and terminating cables, wires, or strapping. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Drill holes for wiring in wall studs, joists, ceilings, or floors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.16 | untouched |
| Mount raceways and conduits and fasten wires to wood framing, using staplers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | 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.