AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Robotics Engineers?

Task-level automation exposure for Robotics Engineers: 24 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

24 of 24 tasks scored

Median Salary

$122,930 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

High

154,070 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+3.7% employment change

8,800 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$76,100 – $162,070

Highest medians

New Mexico $162,070

Alabama $152,550

District of Columbia $151,920

Virginia $148,160

Alaska $142,390

Lowest medians

Kansas $76,100

Arkansas $76,940

Puerto Rico $81,370

Nebraska $88,490

Tennessee $96,640

State figures come from the 17-2199 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 5%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 32%

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

Routine administration 13%

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 20/100 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

24 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) 37%

8 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 54%

14 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 10%

2 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

#16512 · Core · 60% automatable

Review or approve designs, calculations, or cost estimates.

decision support — Design quality evaluation needs engineering judgment

Evaluate designs or specifications to ensure quality.

#16517 · Core · 66% automatable

Process or interpret signals or sensor data.

data analysis — Interprets test results; context and judgment needed

Interpret design or operational test results.

#16521 · Core · 40% automatable

Debug robotics programs.

physical manipulation — Robot programming requires physical calibration and testing

Program robotic equipment.

#21057 · Core · 38% automatable

Build, configure, or test robots or robotic applications.

decision support — AI drafts electromechanical designs; engineer verifies

Test performance of electrical, electronic, mechanical, or integrated systems or equipment. Program robotic equipment. Design electromechanical equipment or systems.

#16516 · Core · 75% automatable

Create back-ups of robot programs or parameters.

data analysis — Maintain records systems; human owns integrity

Maintain operational records or records systems.

#16511 · Core · 70% automatable

Provide technical support for robotic systems.

information retrieval — Product-use advice is largely informational with review

Advise customers on the use of products or services.

#16522 · Core · 45% automatable

Design end-of-arm tooling.

decision support — AI drafts equipment designs; engineer owns manufacturability

Design industrial equipment.

#16530 · Core · 45% automatable

Design robotic systems, such as automatic vehicle control, autonomous vehicles, advanced displays, advanced sensing, robotic platforms, computer vision, or telematics systems.

decision support — AI drafts electromechanical designs; engineer verifies

Design electromechanical equipment or systems.

#16509 · Core · 30% automatable

Supervise technologists, technicians, or other engineers.

interpersonal — Supervising engineers needs accountability and motivation

Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.

#16528 · Core · 72% automatable

Design software to control robotic systems for applications, such as military defense or manufacturing.

text generation — Code generation strong; human architects and reviews

Develop software or computer applications.

#16523 · Core · 40% automatable

Conduct research on robotic technology to create new robotic systems or system capabilities.

data analysis — Design analysis aided; simulation and build human

Research advanced engineering designs or applications.

#16519 · Core · 40% automatable

Investigate mechanical failures or unexpected maintenance problems.

data analysis — Failure data analysis aided; physical inspection human

Investigate system, equipment, or product failures.

#16510 · Core · 45% automatable

Integrate robotics with peripherals, such as welders, controllers, or other equipment.

decision support — AI drafts electromechanical designs; engineer verifies

Design electromechanical equipment or systems.

#21058 · Core · 60% automatable

Evaluate robotic systems or prototypes.

data analysis — Equipment specs analysis aided; physical testing human

Evaluate characteristics of equipment or systems.

#16520 · Core · 14% automatable

Install, calibrate, operate, or maintain robots.

physical manipulation — Physical calibration of instruments requires hands

Calibrate scientific or technical equipment. Install production equipment or systems. Operate industrial equipment.

#16525 · Core · 40% automatable

Conduct research into the feasibility, design, operation, or performance of robotic mechanisms, components, or systems, such as planetary rovers, multiple mobile robots, reconfigurable robots, or man-machine interactions.

data analysis — Design analysis aided; simulation and build human

Research advanced engineering designs or applications.

#16514 · Core · 80% automatable

Document robotic application development, maintenance, or changes.

text generation — Generate operational reports from structured data

Prepare operational reports.

#16527 · Core · 45% automatable

Design automated robotic systems to increase production volume or precision in high-throughput operations, such as automated ribonucleic acid (RNA) analysis or sorting, moving, or stacking production materials.

decision support — AI models process systems; engineer validates feasibility

Design industrial processing systems.

#16515 · Core · 40% automatable

Write algorithms or programming code for ad hoc robotic applications.

physical manipulation — Robot programming requires physical calibration and testing

Program robotic equipment.

#16513 · Core · 82% automatable

Make system device lists or event timing charts.

text generation — Draft technical design docs from provided details

Document technical design details.

#19667 · Supplemental · 52% automatable

Design or program robotics systems for environmental clean-up applications to minimize human exposure to toxic or hazardous materials or to improve the quality or speed of clean-up operations.

text generation — Process methods drafted; materials validation human

Develop operational methods or processes that use green materials or emphasize sustainability.

#16518 · Supplemental · 40% automatable

Plan mobile robot paths and teach path plans to robots.

physical manipulation — Robot programming requires physical calibration and testing

Program robotic equipment.

#19668 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Design robotics applications for manufacturers of green products, such as wind turbines or solar panels, to increase production time, eliminate waste, or reduce costs.

decision support — AI models process systems; engineer validates feasibility

Design industrial processing systems.

#16524 · Supplemental · 40% automatable

Automate assays on laboratory robotics.

physical manipulation — Robot programming requires physical calibration and testing

Program robotic 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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