Occupation baseline · Research consensus
Will AI replace Maintenance and Repair Workers, General?
Baseline AI displacement risk for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, aggregated from 5 research sources.
What this score means
Maintenance and Repair Workers, General is among the least exposed roles in Construction & Trades. Most of what the job involves still sits outside what current AI can do, even as the tools around it keep changing. At 11 out of 100 it sits close to the Construction & Trades average of 13. Across the 5 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 6 to 16, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.
The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works
What this job actually involves
Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General, most central first, showing 12 of 27.
- 01Perform routine maintenance, such as inspecting drives, motors, or belts, checking fluid levels, replacing filters, or doing other preventive maintenance actions.
- 02Inspect, operate, or test machinery or equipment to diagnose machine malfunctions.
- 03Adjust functional parts of devices or control instruments, using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, or straightedges.
- 04Repair machines, equipment, or structures, using tools such as hammers, hoists, saws, drills, wrenches, or equipment such as precision measuring instruments or electrical or electronic testing devices.
- 05Order parts, supplies, or equipment from catalogs or suppliers.
- 06Diagnose mechanical problems and determine how to correct them, checking blueprints, repair manuals, or parts catalogs, as necessary.
- 07Design new equipment to aid in the repair or maintenance of machines, mechanical equipment, or building structures.
- 08Assemble, install, or repair wiring, electrical or electronic components, pipe systems, plumbing, machinery, or equipment.
- 09Clean or lubricate shafts, bearings, gears, or other parts of machinery.
- 10Estimate costs to repair machinery, equipment, or building structures.
- 11Align and balance new equipment after installation.
- 12Record type and cost of maintenance or repair work.
Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.
The research behind this score
This baseline aggregates 5 research sources that scored Maintenance and Repair Workers, General for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.
- 01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026Anthropic
- 02Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
- 03Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations · 2025Tomlinson, Jaffe et al., Microsoft Research (2025)
- 04GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
- 05AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)
Common questions
- How likely is AI to replace Maintenance and Repair Workers, General?
- Published research puts Maintenance and Repair Workers, General at 11 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 5 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.
- Do researchers agree on the risk for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General?
- Broadly, yes. Individual estimates for Maintenance and Repair Workers, General run from 6 to 16 out of 100 across the 5 sources behind this score, a fairly tight range. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.
- Which construction & trades roles face similar AI exposure?
- The closest published construction & trades roles to Maintenance and Repair Workers, General by score are Boilermakers (11/100), Construction Laborers (11/100), and Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas (11/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.
Also covers
Apartment Maintenance Tech (Apartment Maintenance Technician) · Apartment Maintenance Worker · Bench Repair Technician · Building Engineer · Building Maintenance Engineer · Building Maintenance Mechanic · Building Maintenance Repairer · Building Mechanic and related titles
Estimated displacement window
The dated estimate for this role is included in the full personalised report.
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More construction & trades occupations
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians12/100
- Boilermakers11/100
- Construction Laborers11/100
- Derrick Operators, Oil and Gas11/100
- Helpers--Extraction Workers11/100
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators11/100
- Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners11/100
- Weatherization Installers and Technicians11/100
Informational guidance based on published research, not professional career or financial advice. Scores update as new research is ingested.