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Creative & Media · Updated Aug 2026

Sound Engineering Technicians

Assemble and operate equipment to record, synchronize, mix, edit, or reproduce sound, including music, voices, or sound effects, for theater, video, film, television, podcasts, sporting events, and other productions.

JVS 2.0.0-phase4b
AI Exposure
77/100
Very high

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

Replacement Risk
66/100
High

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
Confidence84/100
Task coverage87%

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
Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.High
79
Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles.High
81
Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage.High
81
Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.High
79
Mix and edit voices, music, and taped sound effects for live performances and for prerecorded events, using sound mixing boards.High
80
Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.High
79
Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.High
81
Synchronize and equalize prerecorded dialogue, music, and sound effects with visual action of motion pictures or television productions, using control consoles.Medium
80
Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment.Medium
79
Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving.Medium
81
Report equipment problems and ensure that required repairs are made.High
40
Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction.Medium
81
Most exposed

Where AI can do more

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

  1. Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles.81
  2. Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage.81
  3. Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones.81
  4. Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving.81
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. Report equipment problems and ensure that required repairs are made.01
  2. Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.02
  3. Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment.03
  4. Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances.04
  5. Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment.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.

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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 dependency64
Physical dependency40
Adoption pressure60
Labour-market resilience55
Methodology & sources

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

Confidence84/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →