Often handed to AI
Task areas most often handled directively in observed AI conversations — candidates to delegate with light review.
- Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. · 0.3%
Sound Engineering Technicians
Occupation · SOC 27-4014.00
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.
Also called: Audio Engineer · Mixing Engineer · Recording Engineer · Sound Engineer · Audio Operator · Mastering Engineer · Mixing Technician (Mixing Tech) · Music Producer · Sound Editor · Sound Technician (Sound Tech) · Acoustical Consultant · Acoustical Engineer
Job family: Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-27-4014-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Use as a copilot
Task areas where people work with AI — iterating, learning, or checking — staying in the loop rather than handing the task off.
- Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. · 1.0%
Keep a human in the loop
Task areas where a human was still judged necessary in a large share of observed conversations — not a safety ruling, an observed-need signal.
- Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. · 97.9% need a human
- Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. · 93.8% need a human
- Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. · 83.3% need a human
Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Declining employment outlook (-1.7% by 2034)
- 1,200 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Observed AI use leans augmentation
- Median pay $66,430/yr
- Can largely be done remotely (teleworkable)
46th-percentile task overlap — yet about 1,200 openings a year (-1.7% projected, BLS), and observed AI use leans 3742% copilot, not hand-off (AEI) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Moderate | 59th | 0.5 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Moderate | 62nd | 0.8 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 19th | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.4), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.8). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.1 · 30th percentile among occupations · Low
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. | 0.3% | |
| Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. | 0.2% | |
| Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. | 0.2% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Declining · -1.7% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 1,200 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 16,900 → 16,600 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Sound Engineering Technicians sits at the 65th percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
35% mean task exposure (2025)
65th percentile of 427 placed occupations
−1 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcasting and Audio-visual Technicians · 3521 | 35% | Minimal |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Working with AI in this job
How people actually apply AI to this occupation's tasks, from Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations in the Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15. This is one AI assistant's consumer sample — not all AI, not the whole workforce. Autonomy and the collaboration mix are model-rated estimates; figures below the sample floor are hidden.
| Augmentation vs. automation | 37.4% working with AI · 12.9% handed to AI |
| Most common way people use AI here | Learning · you ask AI to explain or teach |
| Typical AI autonomy | 4.0 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently |
| Used for work (vs. personal / coursework) | 9.2% |
What people delegate to AI
The role's most common tasks in AI conversations, each tagged with how people work with the AI on it. “Usage” is the share of observed conversations, not of the job.
| Task | How | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. | Learning | 1.0% |
| Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. | — | 0.4% |
| Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. | Directive | 0.3% |
Where a human is still needed
Tasks where the model most often judged that a person remained necessary — a useful read on the current boundary, not a guarantee.
| Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. | 97.9% | |
| Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. | 93.8% | |
| Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. | 83.3% |
What people most often hand AI here
Example prompts phrased from the tasks people most often delegate to AI in this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index). Each shows the underlying measured task and its share of observed AI use. They are suggested phrasings of real tasks — starting points, not endorsed instructions.
-
Help me confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film.From: Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. · 1.0% of measured AI use · learning
-
Help me create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction.From: Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. · 0.4% of measured AI use
-
Help me convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving.From: Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. · 0.3% of measured AI use · directive
Tasks
All 14 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Confer with producers, performers, and others to determine and achieve the desired sound for a production, such as a musical recording or a film. Core · importance 4.8
- Regulate volume level and sound quality during recording sessions, using control consoles. Core · importance 4.8
- Record speech, music, and other sounds on recording media, using recording equipment. Core · importance 4.6
- Separate instruments, vocals, and other sounds, and combine sounds during the mixing or postproduction stage. Core · importance 4.6
- Set up, test, and adjust recording equipment for recording sessions and live performances. Core · importance 4.6
- Report equipment problems and ensure that required repairs are made. Core · importance 4.5
- Prepare for recording sessions by performing such activities as selecting and setting up microphones. Core · importance 4.5
- Mix and edit voices, music, and taped sound effects for live performances and for prerecorded events, using sound mixing boards. Core · importance 4.4
- Keep logs of recordings. Core · importance 4.2
- Tear down equipment after event completion. Core · importance 3.9
- Synchronize and equalize prerecorded dialogue, music, and sound effects with visual action of motion pictures or television productions, using control consoles. Core · importance 3.9
- Reproduce and duplicate sound recordings from original recording media, using sound editing and duplication equipment. Core · importance 3.8
- Convert video and audio recordings into digital formats for editing or archiving. Core · importance 3.6
- Create musical instrument digital interface programs for music projects, commercials, or film postproduction. Supplemental · importance 3.1
Work activities
- Dismantle equipment or temporary structures.
- Convert data among multiple digital or analog formats.
- Operate audio recording equipment.
- Collaborate with others to determine technical details of productions.
- Operate control consoles for sound, lighting or video.
- Select materials or props.
- Notify others of equipment problems.
- Mix sound inputs.
- Maintain logs of production activities.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Knowledge
| Computers and Electronics | 4.6 | |
| Customer and Personal Service | 3.9 | |
| Fine Arts | 3.8 | |
| English Language | 3.7 | |
| Engineering and Technology | 3.7 | |
| Communications and Media | 3.5 | |
| Production and Processing | 3.3 |
Abilities
| Hearing Sensitivity | 4.1 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Near Vision | 4.0 | |
| Auditory Attention | 4.0 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.5 | |
| Selective Attention | 3.5 | |
| Written Comprehension | 3.4 | |
| Originality | 3.4 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.4 | |
| Written Expression | 3.3 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.3 | |
| Speed of Closure | 3.3 | |
| Flexibility of Closure | 3.3 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.3 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.1 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.1 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.1 |
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 3.8 | |
| Speaking | 3.6 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.5 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.3 | |
| Writing | 3.1 | |
| Active Learning | 3.1 | |
| Monitoring | 3.1 |
Transferable skills
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.4 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.3 | |
| Operation and Control | 3.3 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Coordination | 3.1 | |
| Service Orientation | 3.1 | |
| Systems Analysis | 3.1 | |
| Time Management | 3.1 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 47.
Tools & technology
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Typical entry-level education
- Postsecondary nondegree award · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
- Preparation level
- SVP (6.0 to < 7.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Communications Technologies/Technicians and Support Services , Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians , Visual and Performing Arts . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| High School Diploma | 32.0% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 20.0% | |
| Bachelor's Degree | 20.0% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 12.0% | |
| Some College Courses | 8.0% | |
| Post-Master's Certificate | 4.0% | |
| First Professional Degree | 4.0% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Interest areas
| Media | 6.1 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 4.6 | |
| Performing Arts | 3.9 | |
| Applied Arts and Design | 3.8 | |
| Music | 3.7 | |
| Engineering | 3.5 | |
| Information Technology | 2.7 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 2.0 | |
| Visual Arts | 2.0 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 5.1 | |
| Artistic | 4.5 | |
| Conventional | 4.2 | |
| Investigative | 2.7 | |
| Enterprising | 2.2 |
Work styles
| Attention to Detail | 2.6 | |
| Dependability | 2.4 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $36,600 |
| 25th percentile | $47,680 |
| Median (50th) | $66,430 |
| 75th percentile | $99,950 |
| 90th percentile | $134,980 |
| People employed | 13,050 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Information · Sector | 6,750 | $77,590 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation · Sector | 2,200 | $58,380 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 680 | $91,170 |
| Educational Services · Sector | 650 | $46,770 |
| Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters · National industry | 580 | $65,410 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 540 | $97,450 |
| Radio Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 410 | $61,450 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 370 | $34,320 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 220 | $123,850 |
| Television Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 180 | $77,580 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 180 | $56,340 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 130 | $86,880 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters · National industry | 94.66× | 580 |
| Radio Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 93.55× | 410 |
| Television Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 32.76× | 180 |
| Information · Sector | 27.43× | 6,750 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation · Sector | 9.84× | 2,200 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 0.99× | 370 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 0.98× | 220 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 0.9× | 180 |
Related occupations
Part of the Arts, Entertainment, & Design career cluster.
- Audio and Video Technicians · 27-4011.00 Compare →
- Broadcast Technicians · 27-4012.00 Compare →
- Lighting Technicians · 27-4015.00 Compare →
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians · 17-3023.00 Compare →
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers · 49-2097.00 Compare →
- Calibration Technologists and Technicians · 17-3028.00 Compare →
- Media Technical Directors/Managers · 27-2012.05 Compare →
- Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film · 27-4031.00 Compare →
- Film and Video Editors · 27-4032.00 Compare →
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment · 49-2094.00 Compare →
- Robotics Technicians · 17-3024.01 Compare →
- Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners · 49-9063.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Sound Engineering Technicians — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Postsecondary nondegree award · typical entry level
- Job zone 3 — Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Communications Technologies/Technicians and Support Services · field of study
- Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 65th percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Sound Engineering Technicians show 46th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings
- Sound Engineering Technicians rank in the 46th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be declining (-1.7%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $66,430, across about 13,050 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
- Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 37% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census.2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2
Copy the whole kit
Sound Engineering Technicians show 46th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 1,200 annual U.S. openings • Sound Engineering Technicians rank in the 46th percentile (Moderate band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 1,200 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be declining (-1.7%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $66,430, across about 13,050 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) • Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 37% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census. (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2) Source: Singulariki — "Sound Engineering Technicians". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-4014-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
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
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Sound Engineering Technicians." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-4014-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Sound Engineering Technicians. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-4014-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-27-4014-00,
title = {Sound Engineering Technicians},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-4014-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.