{ "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register", "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/civil-engineering-technologists-and-technicians/", "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": "Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians", "soc_code": "17-3022", "category": "Engineering", "us_employment": 68520, "median_annual_wage": 64950 }, "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 37, "contested": false, "near_boundary": false, "dimensions": { "task_resistance": 9, "embodiment": 12, "liability_shield": 4, "trust_premium": 5, "judgment_accountability": 7 }, "reasoning": { "task_resistance": "The 9 reflects a genuine split: cross-section sheets, earthwork volume takeoffs, and Excel-based bid tabs can be produced by parametric templates in Civil 3D or OpenRoads with a fraction of the keystrokes, but nobody has automated running a nuclear density gauge on a lift of subgrade, pulling cylinders at a pour, or writing the daily inspection report on why the contractor's forms were out of tolerance.", "embodiment": "At 12 the field half is real but staged — you're in traffic, in trenches, on active construction sites in weather, hauling a level rod or a gauge, yet the work is scheduled, the site is a known location with a plan set, and much of the week is back at the desk reducing what you collected rather than improvising in an uncontrolled space.", "liability_shield": "A 4 rather than a zero recognizes that ACI concrete field testing, nuclear gauge, and NICET certifications are frequently contract requirements and can be revoked — but no state licenses this title, your test reports and drawings carry a PE's seal, and if the retaining wall fails the board proceeding is against the engineer who stamped it.", "trust_premium": "A 5 is set by the fact that your sheets and break reports go out under the firm's and the PE's name to a DOT reviewer who has never met you, though the inspectors who work the same corridor year after year do build standing with resident engineers and superintendents that survives a bid cycle.", "judgment_accountability": "The 7 is the discretion inside a spec book: you decide whether a compaction result is close enough to call for a retest, whether to flag a deviation on the daily report or handle it verbally with the foreman, and how to interpolate a grade the plans left ambiguous — but ASTM/AASHTO methods and the project specs dictate the procedure, and any real change order or design deviation goes up to the engineer." }, "rationale": "Roughly half this job is screen work — CAD drafting of plan-and-profile sheets, quantity takeoffs, cost estimates, drainage and grading calculations, permit paperwork — and generative CAD plus parametric design tools are eating it quickly. The other half is field work that AI cannot touch: concrete cylinder breaks and slump tests, soil compaction density checks, construction inspection walks, surveying support. The modal technician sits in both worlds, so the office half shrinks while the field half holds, and the PE — not the technician — carries the stamp and the liability.", "outlook": "Headcount for drafting-heavy technician roles falls noticeably by the mid-2030s, while field testing and construction inspection positions stay steady or grow with infrastructure spending — the job title survives but relocates to the job site.", "what_would_raise_it": { "levers": [ { "dimension": "embodiment", "change": "If state DOT and municipal specs continue requiring certified in-person materials testing and construction inspection — e.g. ACI Concrete Field Testing Grade I, NICET Level II/III, or state DOT technician certification programs (TxDOT, Caltrans) — for acceptance of concrete, asphalt and compaction on federally funded projects, the field tier becomes the whole job as office work is automated. Watch for FHWA 23 CFR 637 materials-sampling-and-testing rules being loosened to allow remote/sensor-based acceptance; if they hold, embodiment holds high.", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 4 }, { "dimension": "task_resistance", "change": "Genuine two-tier job: if generative CAD absorbs plan-and-profile sheet production and quantity takeoffs, the residual role concentrates in field verification, discrepancy resolution between as-built conditions and model, test-failure diagnosis, and constructability review — tasks tied to physical evidence and site-specific ambiguity. Task_resistance measured on the remaining mix rises even as headcount falls.", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 4 }, { "dimension": "liability_shield", "change": "If state boards or owner agencies require a named, certified technician of record to sign materials test reports and daily inspection reports with personal certification (as ACI/AASHTO accreditation and some DOT specs already imply), and if courts treat falsified compaction or cylinder-break records as the technician's personal exposure — the sworn-report signature becomes a shield. Watch state DOT specs adding 'technician of record' signature blocks and AASHTO re:source accreditation requirements naming individuals.", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 4 }, { "dimension": "judgment_accountability", "change": "If special-inspection regimes under IBC Chapter 17 expand and the on-site technician's stop-work / reject-the-pour call is documented as theirs rather than escalated, the role owns a consequential call under ambiguity. Watch for jurisdictions (e.g. California DSA, NYC DOB special inspector rules) tightening individual special-inspector accountability after structural failures.", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 3 } ], "ceiling_note": "No plausible route to a meaningful trust premium: the buyer is a contractor or public agency purchasing a compliance artifact at lowest qualified cost, not a human relationship. Also note the office half shrinking is a headcount story, not a score story — the surviving field-heavy role can score higher while far fewer people hold it." }, "adjudication": null, "employment_history": { "points": [ { "y": 2019, "emp": 68870, "wage": 53410 }, { "y": 2020, "emp": 67270, "wage": 54080 }, { "y": 2021, "emp": 64170, "wage": 58320 }, { "y": 2022, "emp": 62350, "wage": 59630 }, { "y": 2023, "emp": 63560, "wage": 60700 }, { "y": 2024, "emp": 62130, "wage": 64200 }, { "y": 2025, "emp": 68520, "wage": 64950 } ], "from": 2019, "to": 2025, "change_pct": -0.5, "comparable_from": 2019, "spans_soc_revision": false }, "pivots": [ { "slug": "civil-engineers", "title": "Civil Engineers", "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 63, "median_wage": 100840, "overlap": 76, "skills_to_close": [ "Management of Personnel Resources", "Systems Analysis", "Time Management", "Technology Design" ] }, { "slug": "construction-and-building-inspectors", "title": "Construction and Building Inspectors", "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 64, "median_wage": 74690, "overlap": 71, "skills_to_close": [ "Quality Control Analysis", "Learning Strategies", "Instructing", "Persuasion" ] }, { "slug": "mining-and-geological-engineers-including-mining-safety-engineers", "title": "Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers", "verdict": "SAFE", "risk_resistance": 68, "median_wage": 106220, "overlap": 68, "skills_to_close": [ "Equipment Selection", "Complex Problem Solving", "Systems Evaluation", "Judgment and Decision Making" ] } ], "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms" }