Takeover Tracker
30%medium risk
Robotics Engineers
vs

72 shared · 23 different

core competencies

33%medium risk
Photonics Engineers

Side-by-Side Comparison

MetricRobotics EngineersPhotonics Engineers
Risk Score30.4%32.6%
Risk TierMedium RiskMedium Risk
Risk Percentile41th54th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)5 / 154 / 15
Median Salary$117,750$117,750
Employment151K151K

Skill Comparison

|

Sorted by largest difference

Mechanical
Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
Equipment MaintenanceAI-Resistant
Controlling Machines and Processes
Physics
Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment
ProgrammingAI-Vulnerable
Time Management
Design
Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
Production and Processing
Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Robotics Engineers

35%

total discount

Photonics Engineers

31%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Robotics Engineers

5 of 15 at risk
88%Create back-ups of robot programs or parameters.
57%Design robotic systems, such as automatic vehicle control, autonomous vehicles, advanced displays, advanced sensing, robotic platforms, computer vision, or telematics systems.
55%Process or interpret signals or sensor data.
54%Design software to control robotic systems for applications, such as military defense or manufacturing.
52%Debug robotics programs.

Photonics Engineers

4 of 15 at risk
85%Document photonics system or component design processes, including objectives, issues, or outcomes.
57%Write reports or proposals related to photonics research or development projects.
53%Design, integrate, or test photonics systems or components.
51%Conduct research on new photonics technologies.
49%Conduct testing to determine functionality or optimization or to establish limits of photonics systems or components.

Wage Comparison

Photonics Engineers earns $0(0%) vs Robotics Engineers
Robotics EngineersPhotonics Engineers
10th
$62,840$62,840
25th
$85,750$85,750
Median
$117,750$117,750
75th
$152,670$152,670
90th
$183,510$183,510

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Robotics Engineers2028–2035
Photonics Engineers2028–2035
20242030203520402045

Robotics Engineers has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Photonics Engineers.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

Salary weighted by displacement risk: salary × (1 − risk%)

Robotics Engineers

$82,013

from $117,750

Photonics Engineers

$79,340

from $117,750

After adjusting for AI risk, Robotics Engineers offers $2,673 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

1%

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

0

Unique to Robotics

0

Unique to Photonics

Combined Protection Strategy

Regardless of which path you choose, focus on these protective factors

Fine Manipulation
Social Intelligence
Creativity
Decision Complexity
Robotics EngineersPhotonics Engineers
Find transitions from Robotics EngineersFind transitions from Photonics Engineers