Visually examine materials, structures, or components for signs of corrosion, metal fatigue, cracks, or other flaws, using tools and equipment such as endoscopes, closed-circuit television systems, and fiber optics.

“Visually examine materials, structures, or components for signs of corrosion, metal fatigue, cracks, or other flaws, using tools and equipment such as endoscopes, closed-circuit television systems, and fiber optics.” is a core task performed by Non-Destructive Testing Specialists. Among the occupation's 16 rated tasks, workers place it 10th by importance (#7 most important). About 95% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Inspect completed work or finished products. in Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Interpret or evaluate test results in accordance with applicable codes, standards, specifications, or procedures. · importance 4.8
• Interpret the results of all methods of non-destructive testing (NDT), such as acoustic emission, electromagnetic, leak, liquid penetrant, magnetic particle, neutron radiographic, radiographic, thermal or infrared, ultrasonic, vibration analysis, and visual testing. · importance 4.8
• Identify defects in solid materials, using ultrasonic testing techniques. · importance 4.8
• Make radiographic images to detect flaws in objects while leaving objects intact. · importance 4.7
• Prepare reports on non-destructive testing results. · importance 4.7
• Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials. · importance 4.6
• Examine structures or vehicles such as aircraft, trains, nuclear reactors, bridges, dams, and pipelines, using non-destructive testing techniques. · importance 4.6
• Document non-destructive testing methods, processes, or results. · importance 4.5
• Produce images of objects on film, using radiographic techniques. · importance 4.5
• Supervise or direct the work of non-destructive testing trainees or staff. · importance 4.5
• Evaluate material properties, using radio astronomy, voltage and amperage measurement, or rheometric flow measurement. · importance 4.4
• Conduct liquid penetrant tests to locate surface cracks by coating objects with fluorescent dyes, cleaning excess penetrant, and applying developer. · importance 4.4
• Map the presence of imperfections within objects, using sonic measurements. · importance 4.3
• Develop or use new non-destructive testing methods, such as acoustic emission testing, leak testing, and thermal or infrared testing. · importance 3.8

See all tasks on the Non-Destructive Testing Specialists page.

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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-16619,
  title  = {Visually examine materials, structures, or components for signs of corrosion, metal fatigue, cracks, or other flaws, using tools and equipment such as endoscopes, closed-circuit television systems, and fiber optics.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-16619}
}