AI exposure: Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend drilling machines to drill, bore, ream, mill, or countersink metal or plastic work pieces.
Reading this score
computedAt 9.1% of weighted task load, Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic sits at the 12th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 85.5% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 17 tasks it averages 2.76 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Study machining instructions, job orders, or blueprints to determine dimensional or finish..., at 37.6%. The least is Operate tracing attachments to duplicate contours from templates or models, at 0.0%. A gap of 37.6% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within production occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 85 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 17 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 13 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.52 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.76 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.29 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.26 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.60 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.98 | 0-3 |
Task by task
17 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study machining instructions, job orders, or blueprints to determine dimensional or finish specifications, sequences of operations, setups, or tooling requirements. | 37.6% | 20.7% | 41.7% | 4.70 | exposed |
| Select and set cutting speeds, feed rates, depths of cuts, and cutting tools, according to machining instructions or knowledge of metal properties. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.44 | exposed |
| Turn valves and direct flow of coolants or cutting oil over cutting areas. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Observe drilling or boring machine operations to detect any problems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.33 | exposed |
| Sharpen cutting tools, using bench grinders. | 8.3% | 4.2% | 87.5% | 3.68 | untouched |
| Verify conformance of machined work to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, micrometers, or fixed or telescoping gauges. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.84 | untouched |
| Move machine controls to lower tools to workpieces and to engage automatic feeds. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.55 | untouched |
| Verify that workpiece reference lines are parallel to the axis of table rotation, using dial indicators mounted in spindles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.49 | untouched |
| Establish zero reference points on workpieces, such as at the intersections of two edges or over hole locations. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Change worn cutting tools, using wrenches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.46 | untouched |
| Position and secure workpieces on tables, using bolts, jigs, clamps, shims, or other holding devices. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.40 | untouched |
| Lift workpieces onto work tables either manually or with hoists or direct crane operators to lift and position workpieces. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Install tools in spindles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Perform minor assembly, such as fastening parts with nuts, bolts, or screws, using power tools or hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Operate single- or multiple-spindle drill presses to bore holes so that machining operations can be performed on metal or plastic workpieces. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Lay out reference lines and machining locations on work, using layout tools, and applying knowledge of shop math and layout techniques. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Operate tracing attachments to duplicate contours from templates or models. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.79 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.