Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 18% 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 20% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 80% of the time, stays with people.
Repair and open locks, make keys, change locks and safe combinations, and install and repair safes.
15,040 people do this job in the US. $51,320 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on7 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people32 h
Locksmiths and Safe Repairers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 7 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 32 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Set up and maintain master key systems (about 6 h); Keep records of company locks and keys (about 1 h).
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.
- 20%
- 0%
- 80%
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.
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, 6%. Today's estimate: 18%.
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 14 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 96% of this job's working time as physical work. For 49% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 49% in a purpose-built cell. 0.49 of 3, the 315th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 4%
- No robot shown 46%
- In a purpose-built cell 49%
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 . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up and maintain master key systems.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 91%Half by now | |
| Repair and adjust safes, vault doors, and vault components, using hand tools, lathes, drill presses, and welding and acetylene cutting apparatus.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Install safes, vault doors, and deposit boxes according to blueprints, using equipment such as power drills, taps, dies, truck cranes, and dollies.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, DEWALT / August Robotics autonomous floor-drilling robot (Lionel-based) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Install door hardware, such as locks and closers.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, BETH door processing machine with hinge & lock assembly (4 cells) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Insert new or repaired tumblers into locks to change combinations.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Maromatic A100 / A101 Cylinder Assembly Machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 21 min13 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Disassemble mechanical or electrical locking devices, and repair or replace worn tumblers, springs, and other parts, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Open safe locks by drilling.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut new or duplicate keys, using impressions or code key machines.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KeyMe key duplication kiosk (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min7 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Install alarm and electronic access systems.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Cut new or duplicate keys, using key cutting machines.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, KeyMe Locksmiths self-service key duplication kiosk (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Keep records of company locks and keys.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Move picklocks in cylinders to open door locks without keys.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | 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.
- Mechanical Door Repairers4% now, 4% by 2028
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Helpers--Electricians1% now, 1% by 2028
- Millwrights0% now, 0% by 2028
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% 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 Locksmiths and Safe Repairers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 18% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 20% 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 Locksmiths and Safe Repairers 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: Set up and maintain master key systems (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Keep records of company locks and keys (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Locksmiths and Safe Repairers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Repair and adjust safes, vault doors, and vault components, using hand tools, lathes, drill presses, and welding and acetylene cutting apparatus; Install safes, vault doors, and deposit boxes according to blueprints, using equipment such as power drills, taps, dies, truck cranes, and dollies; and Install door hardware, such as locks and closers. Together such tasks are about 80% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Locksmiths and Safe Repairers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. 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 Locksmiths and Safe Repairers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 96% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 49% of the working time. Its index is 0.49 of 3. One example: DEWALT / August Robotics autonomous floor-drilling robot (Lionel-based) for "install safes, vault doors, and deposit boxes according to blueprints, using equipment such as power drills, taps, dies, truck cranes, and dollies". 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 14 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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