---
title: "Will AI Replace Electrical Engineers? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates electrical engineers' exposure to AI as high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+9.9% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-electrical-engineers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Electrical Engineers? (2026)

**Short answer:** Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places electrical engineers in its high AI exposure category, above the middle of the pack: a substantial share of the work overlaps with what AI can do. BLS projects employment to change by +9.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | High | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 24/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +9.9% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 11,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $120,630 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High (this job) | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Face-to-face discussions: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Making decisions and solving problems: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Thinking creatively: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working with computers: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Analyzing data or information: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Investigate customer or public complaints to determine the nature and extent of problems.
- Supervise or train project team members, as necessary.
- Confer with engineers, customers, or others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects or products.
- Oversee project production efforts to assure projects are completed on time and within budget.
- Operate computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment to perform engineering tasks.
- Design, implement, maintain, or improve electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products, or systems for commercial, industrial, or domestic purposes.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than electrical engineers

- [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay): BLS exposure Moderate, median $103,020
- [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment): BLS exposure Moderate, median $74,090

## FAQ

**Will AI replace electrical engineers?**

Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +9.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are electrical engineers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Electrical Engineers are in the high category, alongside 189 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of an electrical engineer's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, working with computers and processing information. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, making decisions and solving problems and thinking creatively. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being an electrical engineer a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, electrical engineers score 24 out of 100, higher than 14% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $120,630 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to electrical engineers are less exposed to AI?**

Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay (moderate exposure, $103,020 median), Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (moderate exposure, $74,090 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than electrical engineers, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-engineer.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology