Geothermal Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 35% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 37% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 63% of the time, stays with people.
Perform technical activities at power plants or individual installations necessary for the generation of power from geothermal energy sources. Monitor and control operating activities at geothermal power generation facilities and perform maintenance and repairs as necessary. Install, test, and maintain residential and commercial geothermal heat pumps.
$49,230 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work13 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people25 h
Geothermal Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 13 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 25 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Monitor and adjust plant operations (about 3 h, a person checks); Design and lay out heat systems (about 2 h, a person checks); Select equipment (about 2 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 17%
- 19%
- 0%
- 0%
- 63%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 35% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 22%. Today's estimate: 35%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.22% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 95th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 24 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0022% to 0.0066% (released February and March 2025); none to 0.0016% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.19% to 0.22% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0022% | 686 of 708 | 1 of 24 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0066% | 550 of 703 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0016% | 667 of 677 | 1 of 24 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.19% | 102 of 434 | 1 of 24 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.22% | 95 of 447 | 1 of 24 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 79% of this job's working time as physical work. For 40% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 29% in a purpose-built cell, 11% in a structured facility. 0.51 of 3, the 311th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 21%
- No robot shown 39%
- In a purpose-built cell 29%
- In a structured facility 11%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
63% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Install and repair heat pumps, the hands-on work, 8%
- Install system instrumentation, the hands-on work, 7%
- Maintain switchgear and controls, the hands-on work, 7%
- Prepare new systems for operation, the hands-on work, 7%
- Integrate water heaters with the system, the hands-on work, 6%
- Correct plant malfunctions, the hands-on work, 5%
What becomes checking the machine
33% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 3% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Monitor and adjust plant operations, severe if wrong, 8%
- Design and lay out heat systems, costly if wrong, 6%
- Select equipment, costly if wrong, 4%
- Adjust power production, severe if wrong, 4%
- Decide on auxiliary systems, costly if wrong, 3%
- Collect and record plant data, costly if wrong, 3%
What to learn
- The hands-on craft. About 63% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Running AI inside the business systems. About 19% of the time is work inside business systems, which a model can do only once it is connected: knowing the systems well enough to set that up and watch it.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 17% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 24 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor and adjust operations of geothermal power plant equipment or systems.Watching the plant from the console and adjusting it.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Spot with Orbit (Boston Dynamics), deployed by J-POWER / Tohoku Enterprise (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Systems 100% | 99%Half by now |
| Install, maintain, or repair ground or water source-coupled heat pumps to heat and cool residential or commercial building air or water.Hands-on installation and repair of ground and water source heat pumps.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 1.3 work days | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Identify and correct malfunctions of geothermal plant equipment, electrical systems, instrumentation, or controls.Finding the fault on the equipment, with the control system checked.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Hands-on 70%, systems 30% | 29%Desk part half by now |
| Install and maintain geothermal system instrumentation or controls.Installing and maintaining instruments and controls.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Averex robotic wiring centre (Kiesling / Rittal Automation Systems) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 5 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Maintain electrical switchgear, process controls, transmitters, gauges, and control equipment in accordance with geothermal plant procedures.Hands-on maintenance of electrical switchgear and control equipment.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare newly installed geothermal heat systems for operation by flushing, purging, or other actions.Flushing and purging the new system.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated coolant fill adapter tools / fluid fill systems (Anderson Process) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 5 h1.7 h to 7.5 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Design and lay out geothermal heat systems according to property characteristics, heating and cooling requirements, piping and equipment requirements, applicable regulations, or other factors.Designing the system on paper to the property and the rules.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.5 work days | Documents 100% | 80%Half by now |
| Integrate hot water heater systems with geothermal heat exchange systems.Plumbing the water heater into the heat exchange system.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 5 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Collect and record data associated with operating geothermal power plants or well fields.Taking readings in the plant or well field, then entering them.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Spot (with Orbit software), operated by J-POWER / Tohoku Enterprise (Boston Dynamics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Systems 50%, hands-on 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Install and maintain geothermal plant electrical protection equipment.Installing and maintaining protection equipment in the plant.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Identify equipment options, such as compressors, and make appropriate selections.Comparing equipment options on paper.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Adjust power production systems to meet load and distribution demands.Adjusting output from the control room.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Geothermal Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 35% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 37% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Geothermal Technicians come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Monitor and adjust plant operations (99% of the task's time now); Design and lay out heat systems (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Select equipment (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Geothermal Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Install and repair heat pumps; Install system instrumentation; and Maintain switchgear and controls. Together such tasks are about 52% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Geothermal Technicians learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the hands-on craft; judgment where errors are severe; and reviewing work you did not do yourself. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 63% of the working time stays with people, 33% becomes checking a model's work and 3% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Geothermal Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.22% went to this job's tasks, the 95th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 24 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Geothermal Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 79% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 40% of the working time, 11% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.51 of 3. One example: Spot (with Orbit software), operated by J-POWER / Tohoku Enterprise for "collect and record plant data". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 24 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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