AI exposure: Automotive Body and Related Repairers
Repair and refinish automotive vehicle bodies and straighten vehicle frames.
Reading this score
computedAutomotive Body and Related Repairers is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 7.5% of weighted task load, rank 839 of 923. 88.8% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 25 tasks it averages 2.74 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 Follow supervisors' instructions as to which parts to restore or replace and how much time the..., at 60.0%. The least is Measure and mark vinyl material and cut material to size for roof installation, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% 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 less exposed than the median of 13.8% across the group's 50 roles, with 39 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 25 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 22 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 | 0.44 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.74 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.18 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.34 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.04 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.85 | 0-3 |
Task by task
25 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow supervisors' instructions as to which parts to restore or replace and how much time the job should take. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.33 | exposed |
| Review damage reports, prepare or review repair cost estimates, and plan work to be performed. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.14 | exposed |
| Read specifications or confer with customers to determine the desired custom modifications for altering the appearance of vehicles. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.70 | exposed |
| Apply heat to plastic panels, using hot-air welding guns or immersion in hot water, and press the softened panels back into shape by hand. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Inspect repaired vehicles for proper functioning, completion of work, dimensional accuracy, and overall appearance of paint job, and test-drive vehicles to ensure proper alignment and handling. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.48 | untouched |
| File, grind, sand, and smooth filled or repaired surfaces, using power tools and hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.50 | untouched |
| Fit and weld replacement parts into place, using wrenches and welding equipment, and grind down welds to smooth them, using power grinders and other tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Prime and paint repaired surfaces, using paint sprayguns and motorized sanders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.40 | untouched |
| Sand body areas to be painted and cover bumpers, windows, and trim with masking tape or paper to protect them from the paint. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.28 | untouched |
| Chain or clamp frames and sections to alignment machines that use hydraulic pressure to align damaged components. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Position dolly blocks against surfaces of dented areas and beat opposite surfaces to remove dents, using hammers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Cut and tape plastic separating film to outside repair areas to avoid damaging surrounding surfaces during repair procedure and remove tape and wash surfaces after repairs are complete. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Fill small dents that cannot be worked out with plastic or solder. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Remove damaged sections of vehicles using metal-cutting guns, air grinders and wrenches, and install replacement parts using wrenches or welding equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Remove small pits and dimples in body metal, using pick hammers and punches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.12 | untouched |
| Remove upholstery, accessories, electrical window-and-seat-operating equipment, and trim to gain access to vehicle bodies and fenders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.12 | untouched |
| Mix polyester resins and hardeners to be used in restoring damaged areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Fit and secure windows, vinyl roofs, and metal trim to vehicle bodies, using caulking guns, adhesive brushes, and mallets. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Adjust or align headlights, wheels, and brake systems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Replace damaged glass on vehicles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Remove damaged panels, and identify the family and properties of the plastic used on a vehicle. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Clean work areas, using air hoses, to remove damaged material and discarded fiberglass strips used in repair procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Soak fiberglass matting in resin mixtures and apply layers of matting over repair areas to specified thicknesses. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.56 | untouched |
| Cut openings in vehicle bodies for the installation of customized windows, using templates and power shears or chisels. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.42 | untouched |
| Measure and mark vinyl material and cut material to size for roof installation, using rules, straightedges, and hand shears. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.41 | 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.