The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 47-3013.00 · Job Zone 2

AI exposure: Helpers--Electricians

Help electricians by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.

Reading this score

computed

Helpers--Electricians is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 2.2% of weighted task load, rank 903 of 923. 95.9% 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 2.92 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 Requisition materials, at 50.0%. The least is Operate cutting torches and welding equipment, while working with conduit and metal components..., at 0.0%. A gap of 50.0% 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 construction and extraction occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 5.1% across the group's 61 roles, with 46 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, 1 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 24 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

judged

Every 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.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability0.180-4
Embodiment2.920-3
Presence0.260-3
Accountability1.030-3
Context0.980-3
Verification cost1.170-3

Task by task

25 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Requisition materials, using warehouse requisition or release forms.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.41exposed
Trace out short circuits in wiring, using test meter.10.0%15.0%75.0%4.21untouched
Examine electrical units for loose connections and broken insulation and tighten connections, using hand tools.4.2%8.3%87.5%4.15untouched
Strip insulation from wire ends, using wire stripping pliers, and attach wires to terminals for subsequent soldering.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.44untouched
Measure, cut, and bend wire and conduit, using measuring instruments and hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.20untouched
Maintain tools, vehicles, and equipment and keep parts and supplies in order.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.12untouched
Drill holes and pull or push wiring through openings, using hand and power tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.10untouched
Clean work area and wash parts.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.08untouched
Perform semi-skilled and unskilled laboring duties related to the installation, maintenance and repair of a wide variety of electrical systems and equipment.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.06untouched
Thread conduit ends, connect couplings, and fabricate and secure conduit support brackets, using hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.01untouched
Disassemble defective electrical equipment, replace defective or worn parts, and reassemble equipment, using hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.96untouched
Construct controllers and panels, using power drills, drill presses, taps, saws, and punches.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.91untouched
Transport tools, materials, equipment, and supplies to work site by hand, handtruck, or heavy, motorized truck.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.87untouched
String transmission lines or cables through ducts or conduits, under the ground, through equipment, or to towers.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.82untouched
Install copper-clad ground rods, using a manual post driver.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.81untouched
Dig trenches or holes for installation of conduit or supports.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.69untouched
Raise, lower, or position equipment, tools, and materials, using hoist, hand line, or block and tackle.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.43untouched
Bolt component parts together to form tower assemblies, using hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.34untouched
Erect electrical system components and barricades, and rig scaffolds, hoists, and shoring.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.06untouched
Trim trees and clear undergrowth along right-of-way.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.69untouched
Solder electrical connections, using soldering iron.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.09untouched
Paint a variety of objects related to electrical functions.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.06untouched
Break up concrete, using airhammer, to facilitate installation, construction, or repair of equipment.0.0%0.0%100.0%2.89untouched
Operate heavy equipment, such as backhoes.0.0%0.0%100.0%2.58untouched
Operate cutting torches and welding equipment, while working with conduit and metal components to construct devices associated with electrical functions.0.0%0.0%100.0%2.54untouched

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.