AI exposure: Ship Engineers
Supervise and coordinate activities of crew engaged in operating and maintaining engines, boilers, deck machinery, and electrical, sanitary, and refrigeration equipment aboard ship.
Reading this score
computedAt 24.7% of weighted task load, Ship Engineers sits at the 46th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 59.4% 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 17 tasks it averages 2.12 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 Record orders for changes in ship speed or direction, and note gauge readings or test data, at 80.0%. The least is Fabricate engine replacement parts, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% 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 transportation and material moving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 52 roles in the group is 24.2%, and only 23 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 17 tasks, 7 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 8 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 | 1.59 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.12 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.82 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.97 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.59 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.50 | 0-3 |
Task by task
17 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record orders for changes in ship speed or direction, and note gauge readings or test data, such as revolutions per minute or voltage output, in engineering logs or bellbooks. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.03 | exposed |
| Maintain complete records of engineering department activities, including machine operations. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Order and receive engine room stores, such as oil or spare parts, maintain inventories, and record usage of supplies. | 64.2% | 23.3% | 12.5% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Monitor the availability, use, or condition of lifesaving equipment or pollution preventatives to ensure that international regulations are followed. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.78 | exposed |
| Monitor engine, machinery, or equipment indicators when vessels are underway, and report abnormalities to appropriate shipboard staff. | 33.3% | 29.2% | 37.5% | 4.82 | exposed |
| Operate or maintain off-loading liquid pumps or valves. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Act as a liaison between a ship's captain and shore personnel to ensure that schedules and budgets are maintained and that the ship is operated safely and efficiently. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.96 | exposed |
| Monitor and test operations of engines or other equipment so that malfunctions and their causes can be identified. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.73 | assisted |
| Supervise marine engine technicians engaged in the maintenance or repair of mechanical or electrical marine vessels, and inspect their work to ensure that it is performed properly. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.81 | assisted |
| Start engines to propel ships, and regulate engines and power transmissions to control speeds of ships, according to directions from captains or bridge computers. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.68 | untouched |
| Perform or participate in emergency drills, as required. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.56 | untouched |
| Perform general marine vessel maintenance or repair work, such as repairing leaks, finishing interiors, refueling, or maintaining decks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.55 | untouched |
| Maintain or repair engines, electric motors, pumps, winches, or other mechanical or electrical equipment, or assist other crew members with maintenance or repair duties. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.50 | untouched |
| Maintain electrical power, heating, ventilation, refrigeration, water, or sewerage systems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.24 | untouched |
| Install engine controls, propeller shafts, or propellers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.23 | untouched |
| Clean engine parts and keep engine rooms clean. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Fabricate engine replacement parts, such as valves, stay rods, or bolts, using metalworking machinery. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.68 | 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.