Utilities use drones and AI to inspect lines and predict outages, and smart grid sensors spot faults faster. Someone still has to climb the pole or go up in the bucket truck to string cable, replace equipment and restore power after a storm.
The short answer: current evidence does not point to AI replacing power line workers, and AI is adding to demand for them. The ILO's 2025 index rates electrical line installers and repairers as not exposed to generative AI, with a score of 0.15. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 10 percent growth for electrical power-line installers and repairers from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, with about 10,900 openings a year. Projections are estimates, not guarantees.
How exposed power line workers are
The International Labour Organization scores occupations' tasks from 0 (cannot be automated with generative AI) to 1 (could be done without a human operator), and groups them into gradients from 1 to 4, with 4 the most exposed; below them sit minimal exposure and not exposed (ILO Working Paper 140, 2025).
| Occupation (ISCO-08) | ILO category | Mean task score (0 to 1) |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Line Installers and Repairers | Not exposed | 0.15 |
What the BLS projects
| Occupation | Projected change 2025 to 2035 | Openings a year |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical power-line installers and repairers | Grow 10% | About 10,900 |
The BLS links growth to rising electricity demand and grid needs, including electricity use from AI technologies and data centers, new developments and grid upgrades.
Where AI is helping
- Drone and image inspections of lines and poles.
- Predicting which equipment is likely to fail.
- Locating faults and planning outage restoration.
- Work orders, maps and crew dispatch.
What stays with the line worker
- Installation: stringing cable between poles, towers and buildings.
- Repair: restoring power after storms and failures, often in bad conditions.
- Safety: working with high voltage at height.
- Checking AI help: predicted faults and inspection flags can be confidently wrong, which NIST calls confabulation (NIST AI 600-1). See checking AI output.
How the job is changing
Inspection and planning use more data, while the build-out of the grid, partly for AI itself, adds field work. This is one of the clearer cases where AI creates hands-on jobs.
See also will AI replace electricians?, will AI replace construction workers? and jobs safe from AI
Pay and how to get in
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual pay for line installers and repairers at $95,320 in May 2025, against $50,980 for all workers. The typical education needed to enter is: high school diploma or equivalent. See how this job compares in AI exposure by pay and AI exposure by education level.
Questions and answers
Will AI replace power line workers?
Not on current evidence. The ILO rates line installers not exposed to generative AI, and the BLS projects 10 percent growth from 2025 to 2035.
Is AI increasing demand for line workers?
The BLS lists electricity use from AI technologies and data centers among the reasons for growth.
How many power line openings are expected?
The BLS projects about 10,900 openings a year, on average, over the decade.
What line work stays human?
Installing and repairing lines, restoring power, working safely with high voltage and checking AI predictions.