Wind Turbine Service Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 7% 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 93% of the time, stays with people.
Inspect, diagnose, adjust, or repair wind turbines. Perform maintenance on wind turbine equipment including resolving electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic malfunctions.
9,980 people do this job in the US. $64,120 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people37 h
Wind Turbine Service Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 37 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Start or restart wind turbine generator systems to ensure proper operations (about 1 h); Collect turbine data for testing or research and analysis (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.
- 7%
- 5%
- 88%
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: 7%.
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 12 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 99% 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: 37% in a purpose-built cell, 2% in a structured facility. 0.42 of 3, the 338th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 1%
- No robot shown 59%
- In a purpose-built cell 37%
- In a structured facility 2%
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 . 12 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform routine maintenance on wind turbine equipment, underground transmission systems, wind fields substations, or fiber optic sensing and control systems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 23% | 5 h1.7 h to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Troubleshoot or repair mechanical, hydraulic, or electrical malfunctions related to variable pitch systems, variable speed control systems, converter systems, or related components.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 22% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Diagnose problems involving wind turbine generators or control systems.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SPEA flying probe testers with board loaders (automatic test cells) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Climb wind turbine towers to inspect, maintain, or repair equipment.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test structures, controls, or mechanical, hydraulic, or electrical systems, according to test plans or in coordination with engineers.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, DyNaLab (Dynamic Nacelle Testing Laboratory), CertBench project (Fraunhofer IWES) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Test electrical components of wind systems with devices, such as voltage testers, multimeters, oscilloscopes, infrared testers, or fiber optic equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SPEA flying probe testers (e.g. 4060 series) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Train end-users, distributors, installers, or other technicians in wind commissioning, testing, or other technical procedures.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Maintain tool and spare parts inventories required for repair, installation, or replacement services.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RightHand Robotics RightPick (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Start or restart wind turbine generator systems to ensure proper operations.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robotiq Machine Tending Solution (UR cobot + button actuator + light-stack sensor) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Collect turbine data for testing or research and analysis.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ANYmal D inspection robot at W.R. Grace Düren plant (ANYbotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect or repair fiberglass turbine blades.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, SkySpecs autonomous blade inspection drone (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 1% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Assist in assembly of individual wind generators or construction of wind farms.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Siemens Gamesa hub-assembly bolting robot cell (Cuxhaven nacelle plant) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 0.4% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 2.5 work days | 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.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution4,960 people
- Utility System Construction1,750 people
- Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Repair and Maintenance1,440 people
- Engine, Turbine, and Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturing290 people
- Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services120 people
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 Wind Turbine Service Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 7% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 7% 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 Wind Turbine Service 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: Start or restart wind turbine generator systems to ensure proper operations (100% of the task's time now); and Collect turbine data for testing or research and analysis (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Wind Turbine Service Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Perform routine maintenance on wind turbine equipment, underground transmission systems, wind fields substations, or fiber optic sensing and control systems; Troubleshoot or repair mechanical, hydraulic, or electrical malfunctions related to variable pitch systems, variable speed control systems, converter systems, or related components; and Diagnose problems involving wind turbine generators or control systems. Together such tasks are about 93% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Wind Turbine Service Technicians?
- 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 Wind Turbine Service Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 99% 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, 2% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.42 of 3. One example: SkySpecs autonomous blade inspection drone for "inspect or repair fiberglass turbine blades". 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 12 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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