AI exposure: Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians
Assist scientists or engineers in the use of electronic, sonic, or nuclear measuring instruments in laboratory, exploration, and production activities to obtain data indicating resources such as metallic ore, minerals, gas, coal, or petroleum. Analyze mud and drill cuttings. Chart pressure, temperature, and other characteristics of wells or bore holes.
Reading this score
computed29.3% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians at the 52th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.0 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 29 tasks it averages 1.88 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Assemble, maintain, or distribute information for library or record systems, at 73.3%. The least is Conduct geophysical surveys of potential sites for wind farms or solar installations to..., 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 life, physical and social science occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 36.3% across the group's 60 roles, with 43 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 29 tasks, 15 are currently banded exposed, 3 assisted and 11 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
29 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assemble, maintain, or distribute information for library or record systems. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.28 | exposed |
| Compile data used to address environmental issues, such as the suitability of potential landfill sites. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | – | exposed |
| Prepare notes, sketches, geological maps, or cross-sections. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.13 | exposed |
| Plot information from aerial photographs, well logs, section descriptions, or other databases. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Measure geological characteristics used in prospecting for oil or gas, using measuring instruments. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.57 | exposed |
| Participate in the evaluation of possible mining locations. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.30 | exposed |
| Apply new technologies, such as improved seismic imaging techniques, to locate untapped oil or natural gas deposits. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | – | exposed |
| Evaluate and interpret seismic data with the aid of computers. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | – | exposed |
| Prepare or review professional, technical, or other reports regarding sampling, testing, or recommendations of data analysis. | 47.5% | 27.5% | 25.0% | 3.75 | exposed |
| Compile, log, or record testing or operational data for review and further analysis. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.19 | exposed |
| Record readings in order to compile data used in prospecting for oil or gas. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.79 | exposed |
| Assess the environmental impacts of development projects on subsurface materials. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.20 | exposed |
| Participate in geological, geophysical, geochemical, hydrographic, or oceanographic surveys, prospecting field trips, exploratory drilling, well logging, or underground mine survey programs. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.87 | exposed |
| Read and study reports in order to compile information and data for geological and geophysical prospecting. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Interview individuals, and research public databases in order to obtain information. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.57 | exposed |
| Test and analyze samples to determine their content and characteristics, using laboratory apparatus or testing equipment. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.57 | assisted |
| Evaluate and interpret core samples and cuttings, and other geological data used in prospecting for oil or gas. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.20 | assisted |
| Collaborate with hydrogeologists to evaluate groundwater or well circulation. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 2.38 | assisted |
| Inspect engines for wear or defective parts, using equipment or measuring devices. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 2.56 | untouched |
| Operate or adjust equipment or apparatus used to obtain geological data. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Collect data on underground areas, such as reservoirs, that could be used in carbon sequestration operations. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | – | untouched |
| Adjust or repair testing, electrical, or mechanical equipment or devices. | 10.8% | 14.2% | 75.0% | 3.71 | untouched |
| Set up or direct set-up of instruments used to collect geological data. | 10.8% | 14.2% | 75.0% | 3.84 | untouched |
| Plan and direct activities of workers who operate equipment to collect data. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.97 | untouched |
| Create photographic recordings of information, using equipment. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.65 | untouched |
| Collect geological data from potential geothermal energy plant sites. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | – | untouched |
| Supervise well exploration, drilling activities, or well completions. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 2.89 | untouched |
| Collect or prepare solid or fluid samples for analysis. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.48 | untouched |
| Conduct geophysical surveys of potential sites for wind farms or solar installations to determine their suitability. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | – | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 6 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
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 | 2.03 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.55 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.76 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.09 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.78 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.88 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
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.