Will AI replace Maintenance Workers, Machinery?
Estimated risk score: 14 out of 100
Very low replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (0 to 33).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 18 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 49-9043.00 · Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 2 of its 18 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information.
- Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 15 of its 18 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean machines and machine parts, using cleaning solvents, cloths, air guns, hoses, vacuums, or other equipment.
- Collaborate with other workers to repair or move machines, machine parts, or equipment.
- Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and work areas.
- Dismantle machines and remove parts for repair, using hand tools, chain falls, jacks, cranes, or hoists.
- Install, replace, or change machine parts and attachments, according to production specifications.
- Lubricate or apply adhesives or other materials to machines, machine parts, or other equipment according to specified procedures.
What the job is
Lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.
Also called: Maintainer, Maintenance Technician (Maintenance Tech), Hot Man, Shafter, Shuttler, Car Oiler, Pot Liner, Alemite Op.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate