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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Electrical and Electronics Drafters?
Task-level automation exposure for Electrical and Electronics Drafters: 30 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
51%
weighted task index
30 of 30 tasks scored
Median Salary
$76,870 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
17,920 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-3.4%
employment change
1,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 44 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$50,840 – $102,070
Highest medians
New Hampshire $102,070
New Mexico $101,330
Massachusetts $87,290
North Carolina $81,960
Idaho $81,590
Lowest medians
South Dakota $50,840
Alabama $51,650
Puerto Rico $56,480
Mississippi $58,780
Nebraska $59,570
State figures come from the 17-3012 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 51%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 50%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 6%
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 16/100
Low
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
30 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) 36%
10 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 48%
14 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 16%
6 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
#21951 · Core · 42% automatable
Draft detail and assembly drawings of design components, circuitry or printed circuit boards, using computer-assisted equipment or standard drafting techniques and devices.
text generation — Electronics schematics need expert verification and standards
Create schematic drawings for electronics.
#21945 · Core · 40% automatable
Draft working drawings, wiring diagrams, wiring connection specifications, or cross-sections of underground cables, as required for instructions to installation crew.
text generation — Schematics require electrical code compliance and verification
Create electrical schematics.
#21946 · Core · 61% automatable
Assemble documentation packages and produce drawing sets to be checked by an engineer or an architect.
text generation — Draft technical design docs from provided details
Create electrical schematics. Document technical design details.
#21948 · Core · 60% automatable
Review completed construction drawings and cost estimates for accuracy and conformity to standards and regulations.
decision support — Design quality evaluation needs engineering judgment
Evaluate designs or specifications to ensure quality.
#21947 · Core · 55% automatable
Consult with engineers to discuss or interpret design concepts, or determine requirements of detailed working drawings.
interpersonal — Conferring with technical staff on plans is relational work
Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.
#21950 · Core · 58% automatable
Confer with engineering staff and other personnel to resolve problems.
decision support — Design problem conferral aided; accountability stays human
Confer with other personnel to resolve design or operational problems.
#21952 · Core · 18% automatable
Measure factors that affect installation and arrangement of equipment, such as distances to be spanned by wire and cable.
physical manipulation — On-site data collection needs physical presence and instruments
Collect data about project sites.
#21954 · Core · 45% automatable
Design electrical systems, such as lighting systems.
decision support — AI assists electrical design; licensed engineer accountable
Design electrical equipment or systems.
#21955 · Core · 40% automatable
Draw master sketches to scale showing relation of proposed installations to existing facilities and exact specifications and dimensions.
text generation — Schematics require electrical code compliance and verification
Create electrical schematics.
#21958 · Core · 69% automatable
Review work orders or procedural manuals and confer with vendors or design staff to resolve problems or modify design.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work. Confer with other personnel to resolve design or operational problems.
#21953 · Core · 35% automatable
Locate files relating to specified design project in database library, load program into computer, and record completed job data.
physical manipulation — Operating systems requires hands-on interaction
Operate computer systems.
#21949 · Core · 80% automatable
Examine electronic schematics and supporting documents to develop, compute, and verify specifications for drafting data, such as configuration of parts, dimensions, or tolerances.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work.
#21963 · Core · 90% automatable
Compare logic element configuration on display screen with engineering schematics and calculate figures to convert, redesign, or modify element.
data analysis — Arithmetic verification is deterministic and reliable
Verify mathematical calculations.
#21965 · Core · 68% automatable
Review blueprints to determine customer requirements and consult with assembler regarding schematics, wiring procedures, or conductor paths.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work. Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.
#21956 · Core · 80% automatable
Study work order requests to determine type of service, such as lighting or power, demanded by installation.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work.
#21957 · Core · 58% automatable
Explain drawings to production or construction teams and provide adjustments, as necessary.
decision support — AI explains specs; contextual engineering judgment human
Explain engineering drawings, specifications, or other technical information.
#21959 · Core · 40% automatable
Reproduce working drawings on copy machines or trace drawings in ink.
text generation — Schematics require electrical code compliance and verification
Create electrical schematics.
#21960 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Generate computer tapes of final layout design to produce layered photo masks or photo plotting design onto film.
physical manipulation — Digital imaging equipment needs physical operation
Operate digital imaging equipment.
#21964 · Supplemental · 72% automatable
Determine the order of work and the method of presentation, such as orthographic or isometric drawing.
text generation — Detailed work plans drafted from specifications
Prepare detailed work plans.
#21966 · Supplemental · 18% automatable
Visit proposed installation sites and draw rough sketches of location.
physical manipulation — On-site data collection needs physical presence and instruments
Collect data about project sites.
#21961 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Key and program specified commands and engineering specifications into computer system to change functions and test final layout.
physical manipulation — Operating systems requires hands-on interaction
Operate computer systems.
#21970 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Copy drawings of printed circuit board fabrication using print machine or blueprinting procedure.
physical manipulation — Digital imaging equipment needs physical operation
Operate digital imaging equipment.
#21967 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Select drill size to drill test head, according to test design and specifications, and submit guide layout to designated department.
decision support — Tool selection needs context; human decides and procures
Select tools, equipment, or technologies for use in operations or projects.
#21968 · Supplemental · 42% automatable
Plot electrical test points on layout sheets and draw schematics for wiring test fixture heads to frames.
text generation — Electronics schematics need expert verification and standards
Create schematic drawings for electronics.
#21969 · Supplemental · 78% automatable
Write technical reports and draw charts that display statistics and data.
text generation — Internal technical reports drafted; human reviews
Prepare technical reports for internal use.
#21962 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Supervise and coordinate work activities of workers engaged in drafting, designing layouts, assembling, or testing printed circuit boards.
interpersonal — Supervising engineers needs accountability and motivation
Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
#21971 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Train students to use drafting machines and to prepare schematic diagrams, block diagrams, control drawings, logic diagrams, integrated circuit drawings, or interconnection diagrams.
interpersonal — Operational procedure training needs live demonstration
Train personnel on proper operational procedures.
#21972 · Core · 68% automatable
Prepare and interpret specifications, calculating weights, volumes, or stress factors.
data analysis — Estimates from specs; human validates assumptions and risk
Estimate technical or resource requirements for development or production projects.
#21973 · Core · 30% automatable
Supervise or train other technologists, technicians, or drafters.
interpersonal — Supervising engineers needs accountability and motivation
Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
#21974 · Core · 40% automatable
Use computer-aided drafting equipment or conventional drafting stations, technical handbooks, tables, calculators, or traditional drafting tools, such as boards, pencils, protractors, or T-squares.
text generation — Schematics require electrical code compliance and verification
Create electrical schematics.
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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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