Explore the rankings
Installation & Repair · Updated Aug 2026

Commercial Divers

Work below surface of water, using surface-supplied air or scuba equipment to inspect, repair, remove, or install equipment and structures. May use a variety of power and hand tools, such as drills, sledgehammers, torches, and welding equipment. May conduct tests or experiments, rig explosives, or photograph structures or marine life.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
50/100
Moderate

How much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.

Replacement Risk
37/100
Low

How likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.

Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured

Evidence quality
Confidence82/100
Task coverage86%

Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.

Task-level evidence

What is driving the score?

Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.High
68
Check and maintain diving equipment, such as helmets, masks, air tanks, harnesses, or gauges.High
66
Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.High
68
Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.High
68
Take appropriate safety precautions, such as monitoring dive lengths and depths and registering with authorities before diving expeditions begin.High
31
Operate underwater video, sonar, recording, or related equipment to investigate underwater structures or marine life.Medium
65
Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.Medium
68
Inspect and test docks, ships, buoyage systems, plant intakes or outflows, or underwater pipelines, cables, or sewers, using closed circuit television, still photography, and testing equipment.High
53
Set or guide placement of pilings or sandbags to provide support for structures, such as docks, bridges, cofferdams, or platforms.Medium
68
Take test samples or photographs to assess the condition of vessels or structures.Medium
50
Inspect the condition of underwater steel or wood structures.High
37
Salvage wrecked ships or their cargo, using pneumatic power velocity and hydraulic tools and explosive charges, when necessary.Medium
65
Repair ships, bridge foundations, or other structures below the water line, using caulk, bolts, and hand tools.Medium
22
Cut and weld steel, using underwater welding equipment, jigs, and supports.Medium
19
Perform activities related to underwater search and rescue, salvage, recovery, or cleanup operations.Medium
23
Remove obstructions from strainers or marine railway or launching ways, using pneumatic or power hand tools.Medium
22
Carry out non-destructive testing, such as tests for cracks on the legs of oil rigs at sea.Medium
16
Perform offshore oil or gas exploration or extraction duties, such as conducting underwater surveys or repairing and maintaining drilling rigs or platforms.Medium
16
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.

  1. Communicate with workers on the surface while underwater, using signal lines or telephones.68
  2. Obtain information about diving tasks and environmental conditions.68
  3. Descend into water with the aid of diver helpers, using scuba gear or diving suits.68
  4. Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.68
Hardest to automate

Where people still matter

These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.

  1. Cut and weld steel, using underwater welding equipment, jigs, and supports.01
  2. Carry out non-destructive testing, such as tests for cracks on the legs of oil rigs at sea.02
  3. Perform offshore oil or gas exploration or extraction duties, such as conducting underwater surveys or repairing and maintaining drilling rigs or platforms.03
  4. Remove obstructions from strainers or marine railway or launching ways, using pneumatic or power hand tools.04
  5. Repair ships, bridge foundations, or other structures below the water line, using caulk, bolts, and hand tools.05
Where else this work leads

Related occupations

Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.

See all rankings →
Beyond AI capability

Adoption and labour-market outlook

Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.

Human dependency73
Physical dependency71
Adoption pressure33
Labour-market resilience75
Methodology & sources

O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.

Confidence82/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →