# Will AI replace aerospace engineers? Updated October 2026 Aerospace engineers score 51 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 68%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 14% outright, and 18% stays with people. - **14%** AI can do it - **68%** AI helps - **18%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 77% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 16 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 11 and leaves 3 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Maintain records of performance reports for future reference. Routine digital record keeping that software and AI handle well. | 75% AI can do it | | Write technical reports or other documentation, such as handbooks or bulletins, for use by engineering staff, management, or customers. AI drafts and structures technical reports well; engineer reviews accuracy. | 70% AI can do it | | Formulate mathematical models or other methods of computer analysis to develop, evaluate, or modify design, according to customer engineering requirements. AI speeds modeling code; engineer validates results and design choices. | 55% AI helps | | Evaluate product data or design from inspections or reports for conformance to engineering principles, customer requirements, environmental regulations, or quality standards. AI can check designs against standards; engineer signs off conformance. | 55% AI helps | | Analyze project requests, proposals, or engineering data to determine feasibility, productibility, cost, or production time of aerospace or aeronautical products. AI can analyze proposals and estimate costs; engineer confirms feasibility. | 50% AI helps | ## How aerospace engineers compare All occupations (923) Architecture and engineering (56) **Aerospace engineers score 51**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 47 for architecture and engineering. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $134,960 a year, May 2025 People employed 67,710 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +8.3% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Run stress and environmental tests on physical prototypes - Model and verify designs in CATIA and SolidWorks - Validate AI-generated MATLAB and Python analysis code - Sign off design conformance to customer requirements and standards - Hold a Professional Engineer (PE) licence ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Aerospace technicians35 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aerospace-technicians/) - [Electromechanical technicians36 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/electromechanical-technicians/) - [Avionics technicians28 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/avionics-technicians/) - [Mechanical engineering technicians49 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/mechanical-engineering-technicians/) - [Mechanical engineers47 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/mechanical-engineers/) ## Questions about aerospace engineers and AI Will aerospace engineers be replaced by AI? Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining performance records and writing technical reports. What stays with people is the engineering judgment behind each design choice and the sign-off on conformance. Will AI take over aerospace engineering? AI can already do 14% of the task time for aerospace engineers and speeds up another 68%. People still do 18% of it. The US has 67,710 aerospace engineer jobs, with a projected change of +8.3% from 2024 to 2034. Which tasks will AI take over for aerospace engineers? Maintaining performance reports and writing technical reports or handbooks are the most exposed, with exposure scores of 75 and 70. Software handles routine digital record keeping well, and AI drafts and structures technical reports, leaving the engineer to check accuracy. Which tasks stay human for aerospace engineers? Leading engineering teams and directing aerospace R&D programs score lowest, at 12, because direction and funding decisions rely on people. Filtration hardware design, at 18, is physical work where AI only assists with analysis. Running stress tests on prototypes stays manual too. How can aerospace engineers stay valuable with AI? Become the person who verifies AI output. Check AI-drafted technical reports and MATLAB or CATIA models against test data and customer requirements, then sign the result yourself. Physical testing stays manual, so keep those hands-on skills current. ## Related jobs - [Aircraft mechanics17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/aircraft-mechanics/) - [Electronics engineers53 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/electronics-engineers/) - [Electrical engineering technicians45 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/electrical-engineering-technicians/) - [Industrial engineers55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industrial-engineers/) ## Next steps for aerospace engineers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.