Will AI replace Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians?
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · O*NET 49-3051.00
Task exposure index for this occupation
Averaged across the week, this work sits at the low end of the exposure scale — most of it is not the kind current systems do well. O*NET breaks Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians into 14 distinct work activities. Weighted by how much of the week each one takes, 8% of the job sits at or above the threshold where current systems can do the task end to end. The single largest contributor is "Observe equipment in operation to detect potential problems", which scores 52 and takes roughly 16% of the week. That is the average for the job title. It is not a measurement of any particular person’s week, and the difference between the two is usually larger than the difference between job titles.
Model v1.2 · activity indices last updated 18 August 2026
What this occupation does
Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.
The most exposed parts of the job
Scored 0–100 on how completely a current system could perform the activity.
- Document test results.95
About 8% of a typical week
- Observe equipment in operation to detect potential problems.52
About 16% of a typical week
- Inspect mechanical components of vehicles to identify problems.34
About 8% of a typical week
- Repair electrical circuits or wiring.20
About 3% of a typical week
- Align equipment or machinery.16
About 4% of a typical week
The least exposed parts
The same scale. These are the activities current systems handle worst.
- Service vehicles to maintain functionality.16
About 8% of a typical week
- Repair non-engine automotive or vehicle components.16
About 4% of a typical week
- Repair defective engines or engine components.16
About 12% of a typical week
- Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.16
About 6% of a typical week
- Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts.16
About 8% of a typical week
How far off the rest is
Of those 14 activities, 1 can be performed by systems available today and 12 are outside what current approaches do at all. The remaining 1 sit in between — demonstrated in research or in narrow products, but not something you can hand over whole. We do not put dates on that middle group, because nobody can.
Compared with similar occupations
The nearest scoring roles in Installation, Maintenance, and Repair.
- Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians (this page)30
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment30
- Commercial Divers30
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers30
Why your own number is different
Two people with the title "Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians" can spend their weeks on almost entirely different parts of this list, and the parts they choose move the number far more than the title does. Who signs off when the work is wrong, whether the job needs you physically present, and how fast you have picked up the tools all change it again — and none of that is in an occupation average.
The assessment asks you to divide your own week across these activities and answer fourteen questions about the parts of the job an occupation average cannot see. It takes six to nine minutes.
Score my own roleFree to take. The full report is a paid subscription — the price and its terms are on the pricing section, before you start.
Questions
Will AI replace Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians?
We do not answer that, because nobody can. What is measurable is how much of the work is already doable by machine: for Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians, about 8% of a typical week, across 14 activities. The other 92% is not, and what happens to the job depends on things this index does not contain — cost, regulation, who carries the liability, and what the people doing it decide to do next.
What part of this job is most exposed?
"Document test results" — it scores 95 out of 100 on task automatability and takes roughly 8% of the week.
What part is least exposed?
"Service vehicles to maintain functionality", at 16 out of 100. Work like that is where the hours you protect tend to be worth the most.
Where do these numbers come from?
The activity list and the time weights come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupational database. The exposure score for each activity is ours, from a published model — the weights, the priors and the limitations are all on the methodology page. No language model is involved in the arithmetic.
Does this apply to my job?
Only roughly. This is the average for the title, and the number that matters is the one for the week you actually work. The assessment asks you to divide your own time across these activities and answer fourteen questions about accountability, the parts of the job that need you specifically, and how fast you have adapted. That produces a different number, and usually a more useful one.
The full model — the weights, the priors and what it cannot see — is on the methodology page.