AI exposure: Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians
Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.
Reading this score
computedAt 11.6% of weighted task load, Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians sits at the 17th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 81.1% 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 13 tasks it averages 2.77 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 Document inspection and test results and work performed or to be performed, at 73.3%. The least is Repair or rework parts, 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 installation, maintenance and repair occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 13.8% across the group's 50 roles, with 30 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 13 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 10 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 | 0.73 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.77 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.38 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.85 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.35 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.46 | 0-3 |
Task by task
13 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document inspection and test results and work performed or to be performed. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.12 | exposed |
| Start motors and monitor performance for signs of malfunctioning, such as smoke, excessive vibration, or misfiring. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Idle motors and observe thermometers to determine the effectiveness of cooling systems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Disassemble and inspect motors to locate defective parts, using mechanic's hand tools and gauges. | 7.1% | 5.4% | 87.5% | 3.87 | untouched |
| Inspect and repair or adjust propellers or propeller shafts. | 5.8% | 6.7% | 87.5% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Adjust generators and replace faulty wiring, using hand tools and soldering irons. | 5.4% | 7.1% | 87.5% | 3.76 | untouched |
| Mount motors to boats, and operate boats at various speeds on waterways to conduct operational tests. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Repair engine mechanical equipment, such as power tilts, bilge pumps, or power take-offs. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Perform routine engine maintenance on motorboats, such as changing oil and filters. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Replace parts, such as gears, magneto points, piston rings, or spark plugs, and reassemble engines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.04 | untouched |
| Adjust carburetor mixtures, electrical point settings, or timing while motors are running in water-filled test tanks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Set starter locks and align and repair steering or throttle controls, using gauges, screwdrivers, or wrenches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Repair or rework parts, using machine tools such as lathes, mills, drills, or grinders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.33 | 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.