AI exposure: Industrial Machinery Mechanics
Repair, install, adjust, or maintain industrial production and processing machinery or refinery and pipeline distribution systems. May also install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to plans.
Reading this score
computedAt 25.9% of weighted task load, Industrial Machinery Mechanics sits at the 48th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 61.9% 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 1.91 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 Enter codes and instructions to program computer-controlled machinery, at 86.7%. The least is Cut and weld metal to repair broken metal parts, fabricate new parts, or assemble new equipment, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% 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 4 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 | 1.74 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.91 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.33 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.83 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.34 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.22 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter codes and instructions to program computer-controlled machinery. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 3.70 | exposed |
| Record parts or materials used and order or requisition new parts or materials, as necessary. | 76.7% | 23.3% | 0.0% | 4.02 | exposed |
| Record repairs and maintenance performed. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Assign schedules to work crews. | 70.0% | 30.0% | 0.0% | 3.06 | exposed |
| Analyze test results, machine error messages, or information obtained from operators to diagnose equipment problems. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.81 | exposed |
| Study blueprints or manufacturers' manuals to determine correct installation or operation of machinery. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.80 | exposed |
| Demonstrate equipment functions and features to machine operators. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.66 | exposed |
| Observe and test the operation of machinery or equipment to diagnose malfunctions, using voltmeters or other testing devices. | 21.2% | 16.2% | 62.5% | 3.91 | untouched |
| Operate newly repaired machinery or equipment to verify the adequacy of repairs. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Examine parts for defects, such as breakage or excessive wear. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.10 | untouched |
| Clean, lubricate, or adjust parts, equipment, or machinery. | 5.2% | 3.1% | 91.7% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Repair or maintain the operating condition of industrial production or processing machinery or equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Repair or replace broken or malfunctioning components of machinery or equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.24 | untouched |
| Disassemble machinery or equipment to remove parts and make repairs. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Reassemble equipment after completion of inspections, testing, or repairs. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Cut and weld metal to repair broken metal parts, fabricate new parts, or assemble new equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.78 | 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.