Mechanical Engineers
Automation risk
Low Risk (21-40%): Jobs in this level have a limited risk of automation, as they demand a mix of technical and human-centric skills.
More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.
User poll
Our visitors have voted that there is a small chance this occupation will be replaced. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 21% chance of automation.
What do you think the risk of automation is?
What is the likelihood that this occupation will be replaced by robots or AI in the next 20 years?
Growth
The number of 'Mechanical Engineers' job openings is expected to rise 2.2% by 2031
Total employment, and estimated job openings
Updated projections are due Sep 2023.
Wages
In 2022, the median annual wage for 'Mechanical Engineers' was $96,310, or $46.30 per hour
'Mechanical Engineers' were paid 108.0% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $46,310
Wages over time
Volume
As of 2022 there were 277,560 people employed as Mechanical Engineers within the United States.
This represents around 0.19% of the employed workforce across the country.
Put another way, around 1 in 532 people are employed as Mechanical Engineers.
Job description
Perform engineering duties in planning and designing tools, engines, machines, and other mechanically functioning equipment. Oversee installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment such as centralized heat, gas, water, and steam systems.
SOC Code: 17-2141.00
Resources
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Comments
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To design something to fit to better suit a customer's needs requires a lot of understanding. Understanding of what could be changed to help a customer, understanding of why the customer is buying the product (which can affect how something is designed), understanding of where the customer is buying a product, etc. This could make it very hard for a robot to do this job. While robots can react differently depending on inputs, and even "learn", they aren't really gaining an understanding of reality. Even their "learning" is more similar to a brain evolving and changing so it can react correctly to a number of situations than actual learning as we understand it in the human sense. Learning when a human does it means gaining understanding and comprehension. Learning when a robot does it means changing the "brain" itself.
Some areas for ex design can get its tools changed like AR & VR might make an impact, augmentative design might also optimize designs better- But their real-life applications cannot entirely be imagined by AI-it needs an understanding of the problem, logic, analysis and then proposing solutions real time- AI can do it but won't be able to develop, test and construct- there are literally too many external variables involved on which AI have little control - raw material, marketing, supply chain, etc.
Comparatively, something like programming can be replaced faster because there is little risk involved, programming is all logic and development inside a system environment completely under the control of a computer.
At some point, the old "infinite number of monkeys at typewriters to produce Shakespeare," will become an infinite number of engineers to keep up with a single AI. Quantum computing will only widen the gap.
Solutions will be passed to AI-controlled manufacturing facilities directly for production, as fast at they are derived.
There will be a very small slice of human engineers at the absolute pinnacle, probably only to perturb the iteration process to cause new ways to combine things to solve a problem.
All hail the robot overlords. See you soon
The problem isn't AI, it's the computers that are available to them. The amount of resources, computing power, and maintenance that a single supercomputer takes, is simply not worth the effort in order to design a more durable bridge/material.
First, we would need to solve the energy and resource crisis.
Then we would need to focus on advancing computer technology enough in order to make it readily available, and sustainable in order to be distributed to research facilities, companies, and universities around the world.
Only AFTER those things have been solved, could computers and AI surpass human engineers.
You're simply relying on the fact that at SOME POINT, this will happen. Of course it will, at some point, we will all die, at some point, the universe will expand into a cold, empty, nothing.
I won't see you soon, in fact, I wish to never meet you. Simply because, you're the type of person to never take an opportunity/exert yourself to make the world better because you think, at some point, we'll all be surpassed by computers and die. So what's the point?
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