Lighting Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 12% 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 the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 88% of the time, stays with people.
Set up, maintain, and dismantle light fixtures, lighting control devices, and the associated lighting electrical and rigging equipment used for photography, television, film, video, and live productions. May focus or operate light fixtures, or attach color filters or other lighting accessories.
8,900 people do this job in the US. $68,060 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on5 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people35 h
Lighting Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 5 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 35 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Program lighting consoles or load automated lighting control systems onto consoles (about 4 h); Notify supervisors when major lighting equipment repairs are needed (under an hour).
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.
- 12%
- 4%
- 84%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
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.
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, 7%. Today's estimate: 12%.
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
None of this job's 16 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
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 88% of this job's working time as physical work. For 54% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 54% in a purpose-built cell. 0.54 of 3, the 298th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 12%
- No robot shown 34%
- In a purpose-built cell 54%
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate manual or automated systems to control lighting throughout productions.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SMPTE/MIDI timecode show playback on grandMA-class lighting consoles with automated moving-light rigs (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Program lighting consoles or load automated lighting control systems onto consoles. | 11% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Set up and focus light fixtures to meet requirements of television, theater, concerts, or other productions.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up scaffolding or cranes to assist with setting up of lighting equipment.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.7 h38 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Disassemble and store equipment after performances.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Daisy (Apple disassembly robot line) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Visit and assess structural and electrical layout of locations before setting up lighting equipment.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Install electrical cables or wire fixtures.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Match light fixture settings, such as brightness and color, to lighting design plans.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Brompton Technology Hydra / Dynamic Calibration (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Patch or wire lights to dimmers or other electronic consoles.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Rocsys hands-free robotic charging platform (RCS-1 / M1) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Test lighting equipment function and desired lighting effects.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, robogonio (opsira GmbH / KUKA robot arm) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Consult with lighting director or production staff to determine lighting requirements. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Load, unload, or position lighting equipment.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, FANUC M-410 series palletizing robots (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
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.
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.
- Electricians12% now, 12% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment8% now, 8% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians39% now, 48% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers8% now, 8% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment26% now, 32% by 2028
- Helpers--Electricians1% now, 1% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Lighting Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 12% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 12% 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 Lighting 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: Program lighting consoles or load automated lighting control systems onto consoles (99% of the task's time now); and Notify supervisors when major lighting equipment repairs are needed (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Lighting Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Operate manual or automated systems to control lighting throughout productions; Set up and focus light fixtures to meet requirements of television, theater, concerts, or other productions; and Set up scaffolding or cranes to assist with setting up of lighting equipment. Together such tasks are about 88% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Lighting Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. 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 Lighting Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 88% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 54% of the working time. Its index is 0.54 of 3. One example: SMPTE/MIDI timecode show playback on grandMA-class lighting consoles with automated moving-light rigs for "operate manual or automated systems to control lighting throughout productions". 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 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, 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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