Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.

Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 18 occupations and seen in 27 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Communicate with others about specifications or project details. in Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 27 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 24 (89%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 5 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.007% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Advocate for end users in collaboration with other professionals, including engineers, designers, managers, or customers. · Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists · importance 4.5 · exposure with tools
• Confer with engineering personnel regarding details and implications of test procedures and results. · Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians · importance 4.5 · exposure with tools
• Collaborate with architects or related professionals on whole building design to maximize the aesthetic features of structures or surrounding land and to improve energy efficiency. · Landscape Architects · importance 4.3 · exposure with tools
• Consult with engineers to discuss or interpret design concepts, or determine requirements of detailed working drawings. · Electrical and Electronics Drafters · importance 4.2 · exposure with tools
• Confer with engineering staff and consult specifications to evaluate interface between hardware and software and operational and performance requirements of overall system. · Computer Hardware Engineers · importance 4.1 · direct LLM exposure
• Confer with contractors, utility companies, or government agencies to discuss plans, specifications, or work schedules. · Transportation Engineers · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Confer with engineers or other personnel to implement operating procedures, resolve system malfunctions, or provide technical information. · Mechanical Engineers · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Collaborate with estimators to cost projects, create project plans, or coordinate bids from landscaping contractors. · Landscape Architects · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Plan or implement fuel cell cost reduction or product improvement projects in collaboration with other engineers, suppliers, support personnel, or customers. · Fuel Cell Engineers · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Coordinate with and consult other workers to design, lay out, or detail components and systems and to resolve design or other problems. · Mechanical Drafters · importance 3.9 · exposure with tools
• Confer with supervisor to determine project details such as plan preparation, acceptance testing, and evaluation of field conditions. · Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians · importance 3.9 · exposure with tools
• Review blueprints to determine customer requirements and consult with assembler regarding schematics, wiring procedures, or conductor paths. · Electrical and Electronics Drafters · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Communicate manufacturing capabilities, production schedules, or other information to facilitate production processes. · Manufacturing Engineers · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Plan and evaluate new projects, consulting with other engineers and corporate executives, as necessary. · Materials Engineers · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status. · Industrial Engineers · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Confer with engineers, customers, or others to discuss existing or potential engineering projects or products. · Electrical Engineers · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Confer with engineers, customers, vendors, or others to discuss existing or potential electronics engineering projects or products. · Electronics Engineers, Except Computer · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards. · Industrial Engineers · importance 3.7 · exposure with tools
• Consult with other scientists to determine parameters of experimentation or suitability of analytical models. · Nuclear Engineers · importance 3.6 · exposure with tools
• Maintain liaisons with outside organizations, such as fire departments, mutual aid societies, and rescue teams, so that emergency responses can be facilitated. · Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Serve as liaison with federal, state, or local agencies or officials on issues pertaining to solid or hazardous waste program requirements. · Environmental Engineers · importance 3.6 · exposure with tools
• Collaborate with manufacturing or quality assurance staff to prepare product specification or safety sheets, standard operating procedures, user manuals, or qualification and validation reports. · Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers · importance 3.5 · direct LLM exposure
• Consult with chemists or biologists to develop or evaluate novel technologies. · Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers · importance 3.4 · exposure with tools
• Confer with medical professionals to assess health risks and to develop ways to manage health issues and concerns. · Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors · importance 3.3 · exposure with tools
• Confer with research and biomanufacturing personnel to ensure the compatibility of design and production. · Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers · importance 3.2 · exposure with tools
• Communicate operating characteristics or performance experience to other engineers or designers for training or new product development purposes. · Microsystems Engineers · importance 3.2 · direct LLM exposure
• Confer with research personnel to clarify or resolve problems and to develop or modify designs. · Marine Engineers and Naval Architects · importance 3.0 · direct LLM exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists
• Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians
• Landscape Architects
• Electrical and Electronics Drafters
• Computer Hardware Engineers
• Transportation Engineers
• Mechanical Engineers
• Mechanical Drafters
• Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
• Materials Engineers
• Electrical Engineers
• Electronics Engineers, Except Computer
• Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
• Nuclear Engineers
• Environmental Engineers
• Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
• Microsystems Engineers
• Marine Engineers and Naval Architects

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-confer-with-technical-personnel-to-prepare-designs-or-operational-plans,
  title  = {Confer with technical personnel to prepare designs or operational plans.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/confer-with-technical-personnel-to-prepare-designs-or-operational-plans}
}