Delegate, Direct, or Do · Skilled Trades & Technical
Electrician: what would you hand to AI?
AI looks up codes and estimates jobs; the wiring and the troubleshooting are still hands-on.
AI changes a little of this job
Printable guide (PDF) · Pick a different career
Three bins
| Delegate | AI does it and a person spot-checks the result. |
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| Direct | AI drafts; a person steers, fixes, and decides. |
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| Do | A person does it. AI stays out. |
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Four questions for every task
Every sort needs a one-line reason that uses at least one of these.
- What does a mistake cost? A typo in a draft is cheap. A wrong dose, a wrong verdict, or a live wire is not.
- Can a person check the output quickly? If checking takes as long as doing it, delegating saves nothing.
- Who answers for the result? Whoever signs, submits, or says it out loud owns it, whoever wrote the draft.
- Does it involve private data or judging people? Health records, student files, and decisions about a person need a person.
Grades 6-8: Sort it
Start with these tasks, then add 3-7 more that people in this job really do. Put each in a bin and write one line on why, using the four questions.
- Look up the wire size a circuit needs
- Draft a materials estimate for a job
- Trace a short circuit inside a wall
Some jobs land mostly in Do. That is a real answer, not a failure.
Grades 9-12: Brief it, then audit it
Sort the tasks as above. Then pick one Delegate or Direct task and write a brief with four parts: the goal, the context the AI needs, the constraints it must follow, and what done looks like.
Audit this sample
Draft a materials list for adding outlets to a garage
- goal
- A materials list for adding four new outlets to a garage.
- context
- Four outlets, each in its own new box with its own receptacle and cover plate. About 50 feet of cable, measured on site.
- constraints
- Quantities must match the job exactly. Add 10% extra cable for waste.
- done
- A list a supply house could fill without calling back.
What the AI sent back
- 3 outlet boxes
- 3 receptacles
- 4 cover plates
- 55 feet of cable (50 feet plus 10% for waste)
Something here should stop you from signing off. Find it, name which of the four questions it fails, and rewrite the brief so it is less likely to happen again.
A live AI tool is optional, only if your district allows student use.
Close: one task you would never hand off
Which task would you never hand off in this job, and why?
Grades 6-8: one paragraph. Grades 9-12: a short argued response that answers the strongest reason someone might give for handing it off.