AI exposure: Electricians
Install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, equipment, and fixtures. Ensure that work is in accordance with relevant codes. May install or service street lights, intercom systems, or electrical control systems.
Reading this score
computedAt 11.3% of weighted task load, Electricians sits at the 16th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 78.4% 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 21 tasks it averages 2.33 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 Perform business management duties, at 61.3%. The least is Provide assistance during emergencies by operating floodlights or generators, placing flares,..., at 0.0%. A gap of 61.3% 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 construction and extraction occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 61 roles in the group is 5.0%, and only 10 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 21 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 16 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 | 0.90 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.33 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.77 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.55 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.47 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.67 | 0-3 |
Task by task
21 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform business management duties, such as maintaining records or files, preparing reports, or ordering supplies or equipment. | 61.3% | 26.2% | 12.5% | 3.70 | exposed |
| Provide preliminary sketches or cost estimates for materials or services. | 39.6% | 22.9% | 37.5% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Plan layout and installation of electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures, based on job specifications and local codes. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.21 | assisted |
| Prepare sketches or follow blueprints to determine the location of wiring or equipment and to ensure conformance to building and safety codes. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.63 | exposed |
| Advise management on whether continued operation of equipment could be hazardous. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.92 | assisted |
| Maintain current electrician's license or identification card to meet governmental regulations. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Use a variety of tools or equipment, such as power construction equipment, measuring devices, power tools, and testing equipment, such as oscilloscopes, ammeters, or test lamps. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Test electrical systems or continuity of circuits in electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures, using testing devices, such as ohmmeters, voltmeters, or oscilloscopes, to ensure compatibility and safety of system. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Diagnose malfunctioning systems, apparatus, or components, using test equipment and hand tools to locate the cause of a breakdown and correct the problem. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.01 | untouched |
| Inspect electrical systems, equipment, or components to identify hazards, defects, or the need for adjustment or repair, and to ensure compliance with codes. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.98 | untouched |
| Assemble, install, test, or maintain electrical or electronic wiring, equipment, appliances, apparatus, or fixtures, using hand tools or power tools. | 3.3% | 5.0% | 91.7% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Direct or train workers to install, maintain, or repair electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures. | 2.9% | 9.6% | 87.5% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Place conduit, pipes, or tubing, inside designated partitions, walls, or other concealed areas, and pull insulated wires or cables through the conduit to complete circuits between boxes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.62 | untouched |
| Work from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs to install, maintain, or repair electrical wiring, equipment, or fixtures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.55 | untouched |
| Connect wires to circuit breakers, transformers, or other components. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Install ground leads and connect power cables to equipment, such as motors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Repair or replace wiring, equipment, or fixtures, using hand tools or power tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Construct or fabricate parts, using hand tools, according to specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Fasten small metal or plastic boxes to walls to house electrical switches or outlets. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.70 | untouched |
| Perform physically demanding tasks, such as digging trenches to lay conduit or moving or lifting heavy objects. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.60 | untouched |
| Provide assistance during emergencies by operating floodlights or generators, placing flares, or driving needed vehicles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.84 | 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.