Will AI replace Surveying and Mapping Technicians?
Architecture and Engineering · O*NET 17-3031.00
Task exposure index for this occupation
Averaged across the week, this work sits at the high end of the exposure scale. O*NET breaks Surveying and Mapping Technicians into 19 distinct work activities. Weighted by how much of the week each one takes, 84% of the job sits at or above the threshold where current systems can do the task end to end. The single largest contributor is "Gather physical survey data", which scores 72 and takes roughly 21% 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
Perform surveying and mapping duties, usually under the direction of an engineer, surveyor, cartographer, or photogrammetrist, to obtain data used for construction, mapmaking, boundary location, mining, or other purposes. May calculate mapmaking information and create maps from source data, such as surveying notes, aerial photography, satellite data, or other maps to show topographical features, political boundaries, and other features. May verify accuracy and completeness of maps.
The most exposed parts of the job
Scored 0–100 on how completely a current system could perform the activity.
- Document technical design details.95
About 2% of a typical week
- Verify mathematical calculations.90
About 6% of a typical week
- Operate computer systems.90
About 6% of a typical week
- Enter codes or other information into computers.90
About 0% of a typical week
- Determine geographic coordinates.78
About 0% of a typical week
The least exposed parts
The same scale. These are the activities current systems handle worst.
- Supervise engineering or other technical personnel.20
About 0% of a typical week
- Assist engineers or scientists with research.40
About 5% of a typical week
- Explain project details to the general public.42
About 3% of a typical week
- Monitor processes for compliance with standards.52
About 7% of a typical week
- Survey land or bodies of water to measure or determine features.55
About 7% of a typical week
How far off the rest is
Of those 19 activities, 8 can be performed by systems available today and 1 are outside what current approaches do at all. The remaining 10 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 Architecture and Engineering.
- Surveying and Mapping Technicians (this page)67
- Geodetic Surveyors67
- Robotics Engineers65
- Electrical and Electronics Drafters65
Why your own number is different
Two people with the title "Surveying and Mapping 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 Surveying and Mapping Technicians?
We do not answer that, because nobody can. What is measurable is how much of the work is already doable by machine: for Surveying and Mapping Technicians, about 84% of a typical week, across 19 activities. The other 16% 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 technical design details" — it scores 95 out of 100 on task automatability and takes roughly 2% of the week.
What part is least exposed?
"Supervise engineering or other technical personnel", at 20 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.