It is kinda funny in a cosmic sense that maintenance work and similar trades are among the least regarded jobs in existence, but are evidently the only type of work that the eggheads have found impossible to adequately automate away.

It's a matter of nuance. AI art and text are at best a controlled chaos. Statistically made predictions and amalgamated, derivative bullshit presented in such a confusing way that people may be fooled into believing it has nuance. A fake nuance, essentially.
Now for those other more humble trades, the nuance has to be real. Otherwise, the job is never getting done right. AI can manage complex tasks, but it's far from a match for most humans as far as nuanced decisionmaking.