Job Check
Meter Readers, Utilities
Read meter and record consumption of electricity, gas, water, or steam.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters and enter data in route books or hand-held computers.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 02Upload into office computers all information collected on hand-held computers during meter rounds, or return route books or hand-held computers to business offices so that data can be compiled.AI could speed this up a lot
- 03Walk or drive vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials.Mostly human for now
- 04Verify readings in cases where consumption appears to be abnormal, and record possible reasons for fluctuations.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Install new or replace broken meters.No rating yet
- 06Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals.Mostly human for now
- 07Perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters.Mostly human for now
- 08Answer customers' questions about services and charges, or direct them to customer service centers.AI could speed this up a lot
- 09Report to service departments any problems, such as meter irregularities, damaged equipment, or impediments to meter access, including dogs.Mostly human for now
- 10Leave messages to arrange different times to read meters in cases in which meters are not accessible.AI could speed this up a lot
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
44%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 75% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 99% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Walk or drive vehicles along established routes to take readings of meter dials.
- Inspect meters for unauthorized connections, defects, and damage, such as broken seals.
- Perform preventative maintenance or minor repairs on meters.