EXPOSED
The core of this job — pulling cable through walls and ceilings, mounting displays and speakers, terminating connectors, aiming projectors, and diagnosing why a conference room won't pass audio ten minutes before a meeting — happens in physical spaces no robot can navigate. What AI does erode is the paperwork tier: system design drafts, equipment schedules, bid documentation, and first-line troubleshooting scripts that customers can now run themselves via chatbot. Low-voltage licensing exists in some states but it's a thin shield compared to electrical work, and cloud-managed AV platforms are quietly removing the recurring service calls that used to pay the bills.
Tasks largely resist digitisation. Fishing cable through a plenum, mounting a 200-lb LED wall on unfamiliar backing, terminating and testing HDBaseT runs, and chasing an intermittent ground loop are irreducibly manual — 15 rather than 18 because the design-and-quote side (rack elevations, signal-flow drawings, gear lists) and remote firmware/config work are already being pushed into software and cloud dashboards.
Hands-on in uncontrolled environments. Ladders, lifts, crawlspaces, ceiling tiles, occupied boardrooms and half-built construction sites with other trades in the way — 17 rather than 20 only because a meaningful share of hours happen at a bench or in a rack room rather than outdoors in weather or at height on a tower.
Certification preferred, not legally required. A 6 reflects that low-voltage/limited-energy licences (e.g. Texas FSL, Oregon LEA, various municipal permits) and CTS/CTS-I certification gate some work and get written into bid specs, but no one is stamping a signed document that carries personal exposure the way an electrician or PE does.
Some relationship component. Integrators keep accounts because the tech who knows which of the client's twelve rooms has the flaky Dante switch gets called back by name — but the purchase decision usually sits with a facilities manager or AV consultant comparing bids, so 10 rather than 15.
Meaningful discretion. You decide on site whether the wall will hold the mount, which of three plausible causes is killing the video sync, and whether to substitute gear when the specified matrix is backordered — a 12 rather than 16 because manufacturer install specs, drawings, and code limits define the envelope you are working inside, and a wrong call costs a rework, not a life.
Has AI actually changed your work?