Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas?
Task-level automation exposure for Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas: 29 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
23%
weighted task index
29 of 29 tasks scored
Median Salary
$60,190 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
19,450 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+3.6%
employment change
1,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 48 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$45,560 – $80,490
Highest medians
Washington $80,490
Alaska $80,040
Illinois $79,080
New Jersey $77,950
Montana $71,470
Lowest medians
Maine $45,560
Arkansas $46,160
Alabama $46,440
Georgia $50,030
Missouri $51,530
State figures come from the 47-5023 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 23%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 66%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 11%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 9%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 52/100
High
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
29 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 9%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 12%
4 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 80%
23 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#13673 · Core · 10% automatable
Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
physical manipulation — Drilling equipment operated by hand on site
Operate drilling equipment.
#13671 · Core · 10% automatable
Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
physical manipulation — Drilling equipment operated by hand on site
Operate drilling equipment.
#13668 · Core · 10% automatable
Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
physical manipulation — Drilling equipment operated by hand on site
Operate drilling equipment.
#13674 · Core · 28% automatable
Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed.
decision support — Construction equipment selection needs site and safety judgment
Select construction equipment. Install drilling equipment.
#13677 · Core · 10% automatable
Drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks.
situated mobility — Truck driving needs real-world navigation and control
Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
#13676 · Core · 3% automatable
Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
physical manipulation — Manual clearing of debris and vegetation outdoors
Remove debris or vegetation from work sites.
#13669 · Core · 22% automatable
Verify depths and alignments of boring positions.
physical manipulation — Physical site dimension measurement
Measure work site dimensions.
#13678 · Core · 15% automatable
Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery.
physical manipulation — Hands-on drilling equipment maintenance
Maintain drilling equipment.
#13672 · Core · 50% automatable
Select the appropriate drill for the job, using knowledge of rock or soil conditions.
decision support — Construction equipment selection needs site and safety judgment
Select construction equipment.
#13686 · Core · 80% automatable
Document geological formations encountered during work.
data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs
Record operational or environmental data.
#13679 · Core · 10% automatable
Drive trucks, tractors, or truck-mounted drills to and from work sites.
situated mobility — Truck driving needs real-world navigation and control
Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
#13682 · Core · 7% automatable
Assemble and position machines, augers, casing pipes, and other equipment, using hand and power tools.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Assemble products or production equipment. Position construction or extraction equipment.
#13680 · Core · 80% automatable
Record drilling progress and geological data.
data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs
Record operational or environmental data.
#13681 · Core · 10% automatable
Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.
physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control
Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
#13696 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Fabricate well casings.
physical manipulation — Part fabrication requires physical machining and handling
Fabricate parts or components.
#13683 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Pour water into wells, or pump water or slush into wells to cool drill bits and to remove drillings.
physical manipulation — Hands-on pump and compressor operation
Pour materials into or on designated areas. Operate pumps or compressors.
#21016 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.
decision support — AI proposes configurations; engineer verifies physical constraints
Develop equipment or component configurations.
#13689 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Place and install screens, casings, pumps, and other well fixtures to develop wells.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Position construction or extraction equipment.
#13684 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Operate water-well drilling rigs and other equipment to drill, bore, and dig for water wells or for environmental assessment purposes.
physical manipulation — Drilling equipment operated by hand on site
Operate drilling equipment.
#13692 · Supplemental · 57% automatable
Review client requirements and proposed locations for drilling operations to determine feasibility, and to determine cost estimates.
visual inspection — Specs reading aided, human validates requirements
Review blueprints or specifications to determine work requirements. Determine appropriate locations for operations or installations.
#13675 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Drill or bore holes in rock for blasting, grouting, anchoring, or building foundations.
physical manipulation — Earth drilling requires operating heavy equipment by hand
Drill holes in earth or rock.
#13685 · Supplemental · 18% automatable
Perform pumping tests to assess well performance.
visual inspection — Construction equipment inspection is physical, hands-on
Inspect equipment or tools to be used in construction or excavation.
#13691 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Disinfect, reconstruct, and redevelop contaminated wells and water pumping systems, and clean and disinfect new wells in preparation for use.
physical manipulation — Equipment and facility cleaning is hands-on
Decontaminate equipment or sites to remove hazardous or toxic substances. Clean equipment or facilities. Prepare excavation or extraction sites for commissioning or decommissioning.
#13690 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Design well pumping systems.
decision support — AI assists energy system design; engineer accountable
Design energy production or management equipment or systems.
#13694 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Signal crane operators to move equipment.
physical manipulation — Directing equipment operators via physical signals
Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning.
#13687 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Withdraw drill rods from holes, and extract core samples.
physical manipulation — Physical extraction of geological samples
Collect geological samples.
#13695 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Inspect core samples to determine nature of strata, or take samples to laboratories for analysis.
physical manipulation — Physical extraction of geological samples
Collect geological samples.
#13688 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Retract augers to force discharge dirt from holes.
physical manipulation — Drilling equipment operated by hand on site
Operate drilling equipment.
#23489 · Core · 30% automatable
Monitor drilling operations, by checking gauges and listening to equipment to assess drilling conditions and to determine the need to adjust drilling or alter equipment.
visual inspection — Extraction operations oversight is physical, hazardous, human-led
Monitor extraction operations.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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