{
  "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register",
  "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/audiovisual-equipment-installers-and-repairers/",
  "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology",
  "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.",
  "scored_at": "2026-08-11",
  "model": "claude-opus-5",
  "occupation": {
    "title": "Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers",
    "soc_code": "49-2097",
    "category": "Trades",
    "us_employment": 19780,
    "median_annual_wage": 52600
  },
  "verdict": "EXPOSED",
  "risk_resistance": 60,
  "contested": false,
  "near_boundary": false,
  "dimensions": {
    "task_resistance": 15,
    "embodiment": 17,
    "liability_shield": 6,
    "trust_premium": 10,
    "judgment_accountability": 12
  },
  "reasoning": {
    "task_resistance": "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.",
    "embodiment": "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.",
    "liability_shield": "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.",
    "trust_premium": "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.",
    "judgment_accountability": "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."
  },
  "rationale": "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.",
  "outlook": "Installation and commissioning headcount holds roughly steady as displays and conferencing spread, but the design, quoting, and remote-support hours get absorbed by software, so the job narrows toward hands, tools, and on-site accountability.",
  "what_would_raise_it": {
    "levers": [
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "States that currently exempt low-voltage/Class 2 AV work from licensing adding it to the electrical licensing scheme, or expanding existing limited-energy license categories (e.g., Oregon LEA, Minnesota PLT, Washington 06 low-voltage) to require a licensed installer of record signing off on in-wall cabling, fire-stopping penetrations, and plenum-rated runs. Also NFPA 70 / NEC Article 725 and 800 enforcement paired with local AHJ inspection sign-off on AV cable pathways, and mass-notification/emergency-communication systems under NFPA 72 which already require certified technicians and a signed record of completion.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 5
      },
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "ADA and building-code enforcement of assistive listening systems (hearing loops per IEC 60118-4) in assembly spaces, requiring a certified commissioning report from a named technician — DOJ ADA settlements already push this in courthouses and theaters.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "task_resistance",
        "change": "Genuine two-tier structure: as chatbot self-service absorbs first-line troubleshooting and AI drafts schedules and bids, the residual day is commissioning, acoustic tuning, RF coordination for wireless mics under shrinking spectrum, and diagnosing intermittent faults across mixed-vendor stacks — work that requires being in the room with test gear. Score rises as the routine tier leaves rather than through any new rule.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "judgment_accountability",
        "change": "Growth of AV work tied to life-safety and courtroom/legislative record systems — mass notification, emergency paging, evidentiary recording — where a failure has legal consequence and an individual signs the commissioning documentation. Also structured commissioning standards (AVIXA ANSI/AVIXA 10:2013 Audiovisual Systems Performance Verification) being written into owner contracts as a deliverable.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "trust_premium",
        "change": "Narrow route only: high-end residential and performance-venue clients buying a named integrator for acoustic and calibration judgment (ISF/HAA/Dolby certification as a purchase criterion). This does not extend to commercial conference-room fleets, where cloud-managed platforms are actively removing the human touchpoint.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 2
      }
    ],
    "ceiling_note": "The recurring-service revenue that funds this trade is being disintermediated by cloud-managed AV (Crestron XiO, Q-SYS Reflect, Zoom/Teams device management) regardless of any licensing gain, so liability and judgment gains can raise resistance without preserving headcount. Low-voltage licensing, even where expanded, is cheap to obtain and does not create scarcity the way electrical or plumbing licensure does."
  },
  "adjudication": null,
  "employment_history": {
    "points": [
      {
        "y": 2019,
        "emp": 25590,
        "wage": 39510
      },
      {
        "y": 2020,
        "emp": 25760,
        "wage": 41460
      },
      {
        "y": 2021,
        "emp": 21540,
        "wage": 44790
      },
      {
        "y": 2022,
        "emp": 22200,
        "wage": 44960
      },
      {
        "y": 2023,
        "emp": 24720,
        "wage": 48380
      },
      {
        "y": 2024,
        "emp": 22170,
        "wage": 50620
      },
      {
        "y": 2025,
        "emp": 19780,
        "wage": 52600
      }
    ],
    "from": 2019,
    "to": 2025,
    "change_pct": -22.7,
    "comparable_from": 2019,
    "spans_soc_revision": false
  },
  "pivots": [],
  "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms"
}