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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Marine Engineers and Naval Architects?
Task-level automation exposure for Marine Engineers and Naval Architects: 30 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
53%
weighted task index
30 of 30 tasks scored
Median Salary
$112,230 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
8,250 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+6.7%
employment change
500 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 15 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$76,210 – $172,330
Highest medians
District of Columbia $172,330
Texas $152,780
South Carolina $136,990
Florida $130,640
Maryland $130,150
Lowest medians
Michigan $76,210
Wisconsin $78,850
Mississippi $97,060
Georgia $97,770
Maine $100,430
State figures come from the 17-2121 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 53%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 6%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 39%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 14%
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 18/100
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) 47%
14 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 35%
10 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 19%
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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2025 · Occupational Expert
Develop plans for safely drydocking vessels, including structural integrity, block loading, and stability.
Constituent Tasks
#21890 · Core · 55% automatable
Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life-saving equipment and pollution preventatives.
decision support — AI flags compliance deviations; human confirms in the world
Monitor processes for compliance with standards.
#21887 · Core · 50% automatable
Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
decision support — AI assists structural design; engineer accountable for safety
Design structures or facilities.
#21915 · Core · 60% automatable
Conduct analyses of ships, such as stability, structural, weight, and vibration analyses.
data analysis — Equipment specs analysis aided; physical testing human
Evaluate characteristics of equipment or systems.
#21889 · Core · 80% automatable
Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work.
#21907 · Core · 70% automatable
Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients to ensure completion of work at minimum cost.
text generation — Internal technical reports drafted; human reviews
Prepare technical reports for internal use. Communicate technical information to suppliers, contractors, or regulatory agencies.
#21903 · Core · 62% automatable
Coordinate activities with regulatory bodies to ensure repairs and alterations are at minimum cost and consistent with safety.
decision support — Compliance coordination needs human accountability and site action
Coordinate safety or regulatory compliance activities.
#21894 · Core · 24% automatable
Check, test, and maintain automatic controls and alarm systems.
data analysis — AI interprets results; human runs physical tests
Test performance of electrical, electronic, mechanical, or integrated systems or equipment. Maintain electronic equipment.
#21905 · Core · 78% automatable
Prepare technical reports for use by engineering, management, or sales personnel.
text generation — Internal technical reports drafted; human reviews
Prepare technical reports for internal use.
#21895 · Core · 50% automatable
Design layout of craft interior, including cargo space, passenger compartments, ladder wells, and elevators.
visual inspection — Generates structure graphics; survey accuracy human
Create graphical representations of structures or landscapes.
#21900 · Core · 50% automatable
Prepare, or direct the preparation of, product or system layouts and detailed drawings and schematics.
visual inspection — Generates structure graphics; survey accuracy human
Create graphical representations of structures or landscapes.
#21892 · Core · 60% automatable
Evaluate performance of craft during dock and sea trials to determine design changes and conformance with national and international standards.
data analysis — Equipment specs analysis aided; physical testing human
Evaluate characteristics of equipment or systems.
#21899 · Core · 20% automatable
Inspect marine equipment and machinery to draw up work requests and job specifications.
visual inspection — Equipment/system inspection requires physical presence
Inspect equipment or systems.
#21896 · Core · 60% automatable
Evaluate operation of marine equipment during acceptance testing and shakedown cruises.
data analysis — Equipment specs analysis aided; physical testing human
Evaluate characteristics of equipment or systems.
#21910 · Core · 40% automatable
Conduct analytical, environmental, operational, or performance studies to develop designs for products, such as marine engines, equipment, and structures.
data analysis — Design analysis aided; simulation and build human
Research advanced engineering designs or applications.
#21916 · Core · 45% automatable
Establish arrangement of boiler room equipment and propulsion machinery, heating and ventilating systems, refrigeration equipment, piping, and other functional equipment.
decision support — AI drafts electromechanical designs; engineer verifies
Design electromechanical equipment or systems.
#21901 · Core · 55% automatable
Investigate and observe tests on machinery and equipment for compliance with standards.
decision support — AI flags compliance deviations; human confirms in the world
Monitor processes for compliance with standards.
#21893 · Core · 70% automatable
Prepare plans, estimates, design and construction schedules, and contract specifications, including any special provisions.
decision support — Algorithmic scheduling with human oversight of constraints
Schedule operational activities. Prepare detailed work plans. Prepare contracts, disclosures, or applications.
#21904 · Core · 37% automatable
Design and oversee testing, installation, and repair of marine apparatus and equipment.
decision support — Protocols drafted; scientific validity human-owned
Devise research or testing protocols. Direct installation activities. Direct equipment maintenance or repair activities.
#21898 · Core · 30% automatable
Conduct environmental, operational, or performance tests on marine machinery and equipment.
data analysis — AI interprets results; human runs physical tests
Test performance of electrical, electronic, mechanical, or integrated systems or equipment.
#21913 · Core · 68% automatable
Analyze data to determine feasibility of product proposals.
data analysis — Analyzes design/requirements data; engineer owns judgment
Analyze design or requirements information for mechanical equipment or systems.
#21911 · Core · 60% automatable
Determine conditions under which tests are to be conducted, as well as sequences and phases of test operations.
decision support — Protocols drafted; scientific validity human-owned
Devise research or testing protocols.
#21909 · Core · 56% automatable
Confer with research personnel to clarify or resolve problems and to develop or modify designs.
decision support — Design problem conferral aided; accountability stays human
Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans. Confer with other personnel to resolve design or operational problems.
#21912 · Core · 80% automatable
Review work requests and compare them with previous work completed on ships to ensure that costs are economically sound.
text generation — Review technical docs to plan work
Review technical documents to plan work.
#21888 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Supervise other engineers and crew members and train them for routine and emergency duties.
interpersonal — Supervising engineers needs accountability and motivation
Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.
#21897 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Act as liaisons between ships' captains and shore personnel to ensure that schedules and budgets are maintained, and that ships are operated safely and efficiently.
situated mobility — Vehicle movement coordination is real-time physical
Communicate with others to coordinate vehicle movement.
#21902 · Supplemental · 75% automatable
Maintain records of engineering department activities, including expense records and details of equipment maintenance and repairs.
data analysis — Maintain records systems; human owns integrity
Maintain operational records or records systems.
#21908 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Maintain and coordinate repair of marine machinery and equipment for installation on vessels.
physical manipulation — Physical maintenance of mechanical equipment
Maintain mechanical equipment.
#21891 · Supplemental · 18% automatable
Oversee construction and testing of prototype in model basin and develop sectional and waterline curves of hull to establish center of gravity, ideal hull form, and buoyancy and stability data.
physical manipulation — Construction direction requires on-site presence and authority
Direct construction activities.
#21906 · Supplemental · 65% automatable
Procure materials needed to repair marine equipment and machinery.
decision support — Procurement drafting and comparison; human commits funds
Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
#21914 · Supplemental · 72% automatable
Schedule machine overhauls and the servicing of electrical, heating, ventilation, refrigeration, water, and sewage systems.
decision support — Algorithmic scheduling with human oversight of constraints
Schedule operational activities.
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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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