AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Mechanical Drafters?

Task-level automation exposure for Mechanical Drafters: 16 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

57% weighted task index

16 of 16 tasks scored

Median Salary

$71,550 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

39,960 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-6.0% employment change

2,900 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.

$52,610 – $89,940

Highest medians

New Mexico $89,940

Colorado $85,280

New Jersey $83,380

California $82,510

Texas $79,380

Lowest medians

South Dakota $52,610

Puerto Rico $53,470

Alabama $53,600

New Hampshire $55,390

Delaware $57,110

State figures come from the 17-3013 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 57%

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 81%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

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 12/100 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

16 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%

5 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 59%

10 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 5%

1 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 08/2026 · Incumbent

Print three-dimensional (3D) parts or fixtures using 3D printing equipment to support research and development activities.

Constituent Tasks

#20964 · Core · 72% automatable

Produce three-dimensional models, using computer-aided design (CAD) software.

text generation — Generative image tools produce visuals; human curates

Create images or other visual displays.

#1447 · Core · 50% automatable

Develop detailed design drawings and specifications for mechanical equipment, dies, tools, and controls, using computer-assisted drafting (CAD) equipment.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#1454 · Core · 90% automatable

Check dimensions of materials to be used and assign numbers to the materials.

data analysis — Arithmetic verification is deterministic and reliable

Verify mathematical calculations.

#1453 · Core · 50% automatable

Design scale or full-size blueprints of specialty items, such as furniture and automobile body or chassis components.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#1455 · Core · 50% automatable

Lay out and draw schematic, orthographic, or angle views to depict functional relationships of components, assemblies, systems, and machines.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#24018 · Core · 66% automatable

Create bills of materials.

text generation — Technical documentation compilation, human reviews accuracy

Compile technical information or documentation. Create diagrams or blueprints for workpieces or products.

#1452 · Core · 45% automatable

Modify and revise designs to correct operating deficiencies or to reduce production problems.

decision support — AI drafts electromechanical designs; engineer verifies

Design electromechanical equipment or systems.

#1449 · Core · 68% automatable

Review and analyze specifications, sketches, drawings, ideas, and related data to assess factors affecting component designs and the procedures and instructions to be followed.

data analysis — Analyzes design/requirements data; engineer owns judgment

Analyze design or requirements information for mechanical equipment or systems.

#1451 · Core · 50% automatable

Position instructions and comments onto drawings.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#1448 · Core · 55% automatable

Coordinate with and consult other workers to design, lay out, or detail components and systems and to resolve design or other problems.

interpersonal — Conferring with technical staff on plans is relational work

Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.

#1450 · Core · 68% automatable

Compute mathematical formulas to develop and design detailed specifications for components or machinery, using computer-assisted equipment.

data analysis — Analyzes design/requirements data; engineer owns judgment

Analyze design or requirements information for mechanical equipment or systems.

#1456 · Core · 50% automatable

Confer with customer representatives to review schematics and answer questions pertaining to installation of systems.

interpersonal — Discussing designs with clients needs human persuasion

Discuss designs or plans with clients.

#1458 · Core · 30% automatable

Supervise and train other drafters, technologists, and technicians.

interpersonal — Supervising engineers needs accountability and motivation

Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.

#1459 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Lay out, draw, and reproduce illustrations for reference manuals and technical publications to describe operation and maintenance of mechanical systems.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#1460 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Shade or color drawings to clarify and emphasize details and dimensions or eliminate background, using ink, crayon, airbrush, and overlays.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

#1457 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Draw freehand sketches of designs, trace finished drawings onto designated paper for the reproduction of blueprints, and reproduce working drawings on copy machines.

visual inspection — Drafts equipment graphics; engineering accuracy human

Create graphical representations of mechanical equipment.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

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

See the full method →

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