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How exposed to AI is a Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuner?

Of the 37 tasks O*NET lists for musical instrument repairers and tuners, 0 could be done in half the time with a chat window today. 37 cannot be sped up at all. Here is which.

Exposure means published research judged an AI could halve the time a task takes, at the same quality. It does not mean the task stops needing a person. How to read this

Also called
Brass Instrument Repair Technician (Brass Instrument Repair Tech)Fretted String Instrument RepairerGuitar RepairerInstrument Repair Technician (Instrument Repair Tech)LuthierMusical Instrument Repair Technician (Musical Instrument Repair Tech)Piano Technician (Piano Tech)Piano TunerStringed Instrument RepairerWoodwind Instrument Technician (Woodwind Instrument Tech)
Reachable today Needs software built first Cannot be sped up
37
tasks rated for this occupation
9%
hold a degree, from a survey of 22
6k
people do this job in the US
48 of 50
least protected in installation and repair

Every task, and what AI can do with it

These are O*NET's task statements for this occupation, exactly as written, sorted into the three bands by the ratings behind this report. Nothing has been reworded.

Cannot be sped up

37
  • Play instruments to evaluate their sound quality and to locate any defects
  • Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices
  • Reassemble instruments following repair, using hand tools and power tools and glue, hair, yarn, resin, or clamps, and lubricate instruments as necessary
  • Disassemble instruments and parts for repair and adjustment
  • Repair or replace musical instrument parts and components, such as strings, bridges, felts, and keys, using hand and power tools
  • Inspect instruments to locate defects, and to determine their value or the level of restoration required
  • Compare instrument pitches with tuning tool pitches to tune instruments
  • String instruments, and adjust trusses and bridges of instruments to obtain specified string tensions and heights
  • Polish instruments, using rags and polishing compounds, buffing wheels, or burnishing tools
  • Repair cracks in wood or metal instruments, using pinning wire, lathes, fillers, clamps, or soldering irons
  • Mix and measure glue that will be used for instrument repair
  • Shape old parts and replacement parts to improve tone or intonation, using hand tools, lathes, or soldering irons
  • Refinish instruments to protect and decorate them, using hand tools, buffing tools, and varnish
  • Make wood replacement parts, using woodworking machines and hand tools
  • Align pads and keys on reed or wind instruments
  • Solder posts and parts to hold them in their proper places
  • Remove dents and burrs from metal instruments, using mallets and burnishing tools
  • Test tubes and pickups in electronic amplifier units, and solder parts and connections as necessary
  • Adjust felt hammers on pianos to increase tonal mellowness or brilliance, using sanding paddles, lacquer, or needles
  • Remove irregularities from tuning pins, strings, and hammers of pianos, using wood blocks or filing tools
  • Strike wood, fiberglass, or metal bars of instruments, and use tuned blocks, stroboscopes, or electronic tuners to evaluate tones made by instruments
  • Wash metal instruments in lacquer-stripping and cyanide solutions to remove lacquer and tarnish
  • Assemble and install new pipe organs and pianos in buildings
  • Refinish and polish piano cabinets or cases to prepare them for sale
  • Deliver pianos to purchasers or to locations of their use
  • Remove drumheads by removing tension rods with drum keys and cutting tools
  • Place rim hoops back onto drum shells to allow new drumheads to dry and become taut
  • Solder or weld frames of mallet instruments and metal drum parts
  • Repair breaks in percussion instruments, such as drums and cymbals, using drill presses, power saws, glue, clamps, grinding wheels, or other hand tools
  • Cut new drumheads from animal skins, using scissors, and soak drumheads in water to make them pliable
  • Assemble bars onto percussion instruments
  • Stretch drumheads over rim hoops and tuck them around and under the hoops, using hand tucking tools
  • Cut out sections around cracks on percussion instruments to prevent cracks from advancing, using shears or grinding wheels
  • Clean, sand, and paint parts of percussion instruments to maintain their condition
  • File metal reeds until their pitches correspond with standard tuning bar pitches
  • Replace xylophone bars and wheels
  • Remove material from bars of percussion instruments to obtain specified tones, using bandsaws, sanding machines, machine grinders, or hand files and scrapers
What this does not say

This is not a prediction about your job

Nobody surveyed an employer. Tasks are counted equally, so a percentage here is a share of the list rather than a share of your week. And the ratings were made in 2023, which makes every figure a floor rather than a ceiling.

It must never be used to select anyone for redundancy. The full limits are here.

Where to go next

This is the standard task list for the title. The useful next question is which of the tasks you actually do should go near AI, and which should not.

Sort your own tasks Read the full report

Exposure ratings from Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs, Science 384, 1306–1308, 2024, used under the MIT licence. This page includes information from the O*NET Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. People Team AI has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Employment figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.