AI exposure: Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
Conduct subsurface surveys to identify the characteristics of potential land or mining development sites. May specify the ground support systems, processes, and equipment for safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction or underground construction activities. May inspect areas for unsafe geological conditions, equipment, and working conditions. May design, implement, and coordinate mine safety programs.
Reading this score
computed40.5% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers at the 71th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.6 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 context. Across this occupation's 18 tasks it averages 2.17 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Prepare technical reports for use by mining, engineering, and management personnel, at 73.3%. The least is Lay out, direct, and supervise mine construction operations, at 5.0%. A gap of 68.3% 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 architecture and engineering occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 56 roles in the group is 37.5%, and only 12 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 18 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 3 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
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare technical reports for use by mining, engineering, and management personnel. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.38 | exposed |
| Conduct or direct mining experiments to test or prove research findings. | 71.3% | 20.4% | 8.3% | 2.90 | exposed |
| Prepare schedules, reports, and estimates of the costs involved in developing and operating mines. | 67.2% | 24.4% | 8.3% | 3.80 | exposed |
| Select locations and plan underground or surface mining operations, specifying processes, labor usage, and equipment that will result in safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction of minerals and ores. | 55.6% | 27.8% | 16.7% | 3.95 | exposed |
| Monitor mine production rates to assess operational effectiveness. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.78 | exposed |
| Design, develop, and implement computer applications for use in mining operations such as mine design, modeling, or mapping or for monitoring mine conditions. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.70 | exposed |
| Select or devise materials-handling methods and equipment to transport ore, waste materials, and mineral products efficiently and economically. | 46.7% | 28.3% | 25.0% | 3.62 | exposed |
| Select or develop mineral location, extraction, and production methods, based on factors such as safety, cost, and deposit characteristics. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.98 | exposed |
| Examine maps, deposits, drilling locations, or mines to determine the location, size, accessibility, contents, value, and potential profitability of mineral, oil, and gas deposits. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.74 | exposed |
| Evaluate data to develop new mining products, equipment, or processes. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.38 | exposed |
| Design, implement, and monitor the development of mines, facilities, systems, or equipment. | 29.8% | 28.5% | 41.7% | 3.67 | exposed |
| Devise solutions to problems of land reclamation and water and air pollution, such as methods of storing excavated soil and returning exhausted mine sites to natural states. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.81 | assisted |
| Design mining and mineral treatment equipment and machinery in collaboration with other engineering specialists. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 2.96 | assisted |
| Implement and coordinate mine safety programs, including the design and maintenance of protective and rescue equipment and safety devices. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.85 | assisted |
| Test air to detect toxic gases and recommend measures to remove them, such as installation of ventilation shafts. | 18.3% | 31.7% | 50.0% | 4.07 | assisted |
| Supervise, train, and evaluate technicians, technologists, survey personnel, engineers, scientists or other mine personnel. | 17.5% | 20.0% | 62.5% | 3.76 | untouched |
| Inspect mining areas for unsafe structures, equipment, and working conditions. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Lay out, direct, and supervise mine construction operations, such as the construction of shafts and tunnels. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 3.79 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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 | 2.58 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.80 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.61 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.36 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.17 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.83 | 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.