{
  "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register",
  "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/engine-and-other-machine-assemblers/",
  "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": "Engine and Other Machine Assemblers",
    "soc_code": "51-2031",
    "category": "Production",
    "us_employment": 34000,
    "median_annual_wage": 53710
  },
  "verdict": "EXPOSED",
  "risk_resistance": 34,
  "contested": false,
  "near_boundary": true,
  "dimensions": {
    "task_resistance": 13,
    "embodiment": 11,
    "liability_shield": 2,
    "trust_premium": 3,
    "judgment_accountability": 5
  },
  "reasoning": {
    "task_resistance": "At 13 the score credits what a robot cell still can't do cheaply — feeling a bearing preload, chasing an interference fit on a rebuilt block, working from a marked-up print on a one-off marine or genset build — but it stops short of 14+ because the repetitive torque sequences, gasket placement and press-fit operations that fill a high-volume shift are already done by fixture automation and torque robots on the big lines.",
    "embodiment": "An 11 reflects that you're standing at a bench or line with air tools, hoists, presses and micrometers on physical parts — real force, real reach, real dexterity — but the environment is a controlled indoor plant floor with fixed stations, part kitting and defined lighting, not the unpredictable field conditions of a millwright crawling inside a running facility.",
    "liability_shield": "A 2 is because nothing you install requires you to hold a license or sign off in your own name; the plant's quality inspector, the engineering spec and the manufacturer's warranty absorb the consequence of a bad build, and your traceability stamp on a work order is a shop record, not personal legal exposure.",
    "trust_premium": "A 3 acknowledges only that a foreman knows which assembler to hand the difficult rebuild to — the customer who buys the engine never learns your name, and the assembly can be transferred to another plant or another worker without a single conversation being lost.",
    "judgment_accountability": "At 5, most calls are already made for you by the build sheet, torque spec and go/no-go gauge; the discretion that keeps this above the floor is the decision to stop the line, tag a part out of tolerance, or flag a fit problem before it becomes scrap — real judgment, but exercised inside documented procedure rather than owning the outcome."
  },
  "rationale": "Fitting crankshafts, torquing head bolts, aligning gears and verifying tolerances is hand work, not screen work, so language AI barely touches the core day. The real pressure is industrial robotics and fixture automation, which already own high-volume engine lines — what survives is low-volume, large, or variant-heavy builds (marine, industrial, rebuilds, prototypes) where tooling up a cell costs more than a skilled assembler. No license, no client relationship, and work instructions define most decisions, so the only moats are hands and physical presence.",
  "outlook": "High-volume engine assembly headcount keeps thinning as lines automate, while custom, industrial, and rebuild assembly holds — expect fewer jobs and a skill shift toward troubleshooting and machine tending.",
  "what_would_raise_it": {
    "levers": [
      {
        "dimension": "task_resistance",
        "change": "Task-mix shift as high-volume cells finish automating: what remains is prototype/first-article builds, rebuild teardown where wear diagnosis and reuse/scrap calls are unstructured, and variant-heavy marine/industrial engines where BOMs and fits change per unit. This tier resists both robotics and instruction-following AI because the build sequence is not stable enough to fixture.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 3
      },
      {
        "dimension": "embodiment",
        "change": "Concentration into large-displacement and field work — locomotive, marine, stationary gensets, wind gearbox rebuilds — where the machine cannot be brought to a cell and assembly happens in situ with confined-space and overhead access. Field-service engine assembly is already a distinct pay tier at EMD/Caterpillar dealers.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "Airworthiness-style sign-off spreading beyond aviation: FAA Part 65 A&P certification already makes a named licensed human personally responsible for engine assembly and return-to-service. An analogous mandatory stamped sign-off in marine propulsion (USCG/ABS surveyor-witnessed assembly of critical rotating assemblies) or in EPA/CARB emissions-critical rebuild certification would attach a named human to the torque record.",
        "plausibility": "unlikely",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "judgment_accountability",
        "change": "If insurers or OEM warranty programs require a named assembler-of-record accountable for torque-sequence and clearance decisions on critical rotating assemblies — the way turbine and nuclear pump rebuilds already carry traveler sign-off per build step — the role owns consequential calls rather than executing instructions.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      }
    ],
    "ceiling_note": "Even with every lever, this stays a mid-scoring occupation: the headcount trend is set by robotics capex in high-volume plants, not by any of these moats. Trust premium has no realistic route — buyers purchase an engine, not an assembler, and no end customer knows or pays for who built it."
  },
  "adjudication": {
    "method": "two independent runs agreed on the verdict",
    "outcome": "corroborated",
    "run_totals": [
      34,
      36
    ],
    "run_verdicts": [
      "EXPOSED",
      "EXPOSED"
    ]
  },
  "employment_history": {
    "points": [
      {
        "y": 2017,
        "emp": 37770,
        "wage": 43390
      },
      {
        "y": 2018,
        "emp": 48200,
        "wage": 44380
      },
      {
        "y": 2019,
        "emp": 45980,
        "wage": 45660
      },
      {
        "y": 2020,
        "emp": 41510,
        "wage": 45770
      },
      {
        "y": 2021,
        "emp": 45990,
        "wage": 47440
      },
      {
        "y": 2022,
        "emp": 50120,
        "wage": 50850
      },
      {
        "y": 2023,
        "emp": 47960,
        "wage": 50270
      },
      {
        "y": 2024,
        "emp": 38420,
        "wage": 52540
      },
      {
        "y": 2025,
        "emp": 34000,
        "wage": 53710
      }
    ],
    "from": 2017,
    "to": 2025,
    "change_pct": -10,
    "comparable_from": 2019,
    "spans_soc_revision": true
  },
  "pivots": [
    {
      "slug": "automotive-body-and-related-repairers",
      "title": "Automotive Body and Related Repairers",
      "verdict": "EXPOSED",
      "risk_resistance": 65,
      "median_wage": 54890,
      "overlap": 88,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Service Orientation",
        "Active Learning"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairers",
      "title": "Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers",
      "verdict": "EXPOSED",
      "risk_resistance": 60,
      "median_wage": 56210,
      "overlap": 84,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Equipment Selection",
        "Repairing",
        "Equipment Maintenance",
        "Installation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "refractory-materials-repairers-except-brickmasons",
      "title": "Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons",
      "verdict": "EXPOSED",
      "risk_resistance": 65,
      "median_wage": 61290,
      "overlap": 83,
      "skills_to_close": []
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms"
}