Takeover Tracker

30%medium risk
Robotics Engineers
vs

35 shared · 62 different

core competencies

32%medium risk
Photonics Technicians

Side-by-Side Comparison

MetricRobotics EngineersPhotonics Technicians
Risk Score30.4%31.8%
Risk TierMedium RiskMedium Risk
Risk Percentile41th50th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)5 / 155 / 15
Median Salary$117,750$77,390
Employment151K64K

Skill Comparison

|

Sorted by largest difference

Design
Thinking Creatively
Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment
MathematicsAI-Vulnerable
Engineering and Technology
Originality
Scheduling Work and Activities
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge
Mathematical Reasoning
Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others
Inductive Reasoning
Visualization

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Robotics Engineers

35%

total discount

Photonics Technicians

28%

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 Technicians

5 of 15 at risk
86%Document procedures, such as calibration of optical or fiber optic equipment.
86%Monitor mechanical factors, such as turbine load or strain information.
68%Compute or record photonic test data.
53%Assist scientists or engineers in the conduct of photonic experiments.
51%Perform diagnostic analyses of processing steps, using analytical or metrological tools, such as microscopy, profilometry, or ellipsometry devices.

Wage Comparison

Photonics Technicians earns -$40,360(-34%) vs Robotics Engineers
Robotics EngineersPhotonics Technicians
10th
$62,840$47,010
25th
$85,750$59,700
Median
$117,750$77,390
75th
$152,670$97,760
90th
$183,510$114,630

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Head-to-head task automation timeline
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Combined protective factor strategy
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