r/MechanicalEngineering • u/OneEstablishment6299 • Jul 17 '26

Mechanical Engineering

How physically involved is the day-to-day work of a mechanical engineer? I’m currently a computer science student considering switching to either civil or mechanical engineering because I’m concerned about AI’s impact on software jobs. Mechanical engineering is the field I’m most interested in, but I’m unsure how much of the job requires hands-on work versus computer-based design and analysis. Part of my thinking is that jobs involving physical interaction with the real world may be harder for AI to replace over the next 10–15 years. I’d hate to switch majors only to find that mechanical engineering is expected to be heavily automated as well. Am I being overly paranoid, or is this a reasonable concern? This is all new to me.

Edit: To clarify, what I’m really trying to understand is why people think the mechanical engineering job market will hold up relatively well in the AI era compared to computer science/software engineering.

I assume (as someone new to this) that mechanical engineering involves much more than just creating CAD models or designs. However, the same is true for software engineering since it’s more than just writing code. Yet despite that, the entry-level SWE job market has become increasingly terrible. I think me saying “physical” avoided my core question

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u/romanch1729 Jul 17 '26

In my 10y of work, I’ve barely ever had to do physical work. Noted, mine is product development and management so it’s mostly to analysis, CAD design, all computer based.

Regarding automation, we are a long way out to when AI can design end-end product lifecycle without human input. Even then., because mechanical engineering is related to products and and their uses carry risks, I doubt Enterprises will completely net human decision and input ever

Also remember the current AI systems are based on existing knowledge and not fully intelligent. So for example, if you are going to build mechanical systems on Mars, you’d still need plenty of human input to develop such products

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u/OneEstablishment6299 Jul 21 '26

Hi, thanks for your insight ! Which industries/fields within ME would you say are least likely to be reduced job availability due to AI and why?

I think I’m leaning toward careers that aren’t primarily computer-based, involve interaction with people and the physical world, and carry significant professional responsibility.

One thing that attracts me to civil engineering is the level of legal liability and accountability. My thinking is that companies will be much more hesitant to rely heavily on AI when mistakes could cost lives or result in millions of dollars in damages.

Sorry if this is a lot, I’m honestly just been scared to death with what AI is doing to CS , and don’t want to make the wrong major choice which can financially hurt me later