Will AI replace Lighting Technicians?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
9/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 20% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 19% of the work
What the job involves
Set up, maintain, and dismantle light fixtures, lighting control devices, and the associated lighting electrical and rigging equipment used for photography, television, film, video, and live productions. May focus or operate light fixtures, or attach color filters or other lighting accessories.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(3)
- Consult with lighting director or production staff to determine lighting requirements.
- Match light fixture settings, such as brightness and color, to lighting design plans.
- Visit and assess structural and electrical layout of locations before setting up lighting equipment.
Out of reach(13)
- Assess safety of wiring or equipment set-up to determine the risk of fire or electrical shock.
- Disassemble and store equipment after performances.
- Install color effects or image patterns, such as color filters, onto lighting fixtures.
- Install electrical cables or wire fixtures.
- Load, unload, or position lighting equipment.
and 8 more
Also called
Dimmer Board Operator · Gaffer · Lamp Operator · Set Lighting Technician (Set Lighting Tech) · Set Lighting Tech · Spotlight Operator · Controls Technician (Controls Tech) · Controls Tech
Related jobs
- Electricians13/100
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment16/100
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians34/100
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers9/100
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment26/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics