AI exposure: Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators
Operate steam-, gas-, electric motor-, or internal combustion-engine driven compressors. Transmit, compress, or recover gases, such as butane, nitrogen, hydrogen, and natural gas.
Reading this score
computedAt 32.6% of weighted task load, Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators sits at the 57th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 51.3% 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 13 tasks it averages 2.08 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 Record instrument readings and operational changes in operating logs, at 73.3%. The least is Connect pipelines between pumps and containers that are being filled or emptied, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% 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 transportation and material moving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 52 roles in the group is 24.2%, and only 11 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 13 tasks, 9 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 4 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 | 1.81 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.08 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.23 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.77 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.85 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.96 | 0-3 |
Task by task
13 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record instrument readings and operational changes in operating logs. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Submit daily reports on facility operations. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Read gas meters, and maintain records of the amounts of gas received and dispensed from holders. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.95 | exposed |
| Adjust valves and equipment to obtain specified performance. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Move controls and turn valves to start compressor engines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.22 | exposed |
| Operate power-driven pumps that transfer liquids, semi-liquids, gases, or powdered materials. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.12 | exposed |
| Turn knobs or switches to regulate pressures. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.78 | exposed |
| Monitor meters and pressure gauges to determine consumption rate variations, temperatures, and pressures. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Respond to problems by adjusting control room equipment or instructing other personnel to adjust equipment at problem locations or in other control areas. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.28 | exposed |
| Take samples of gases and conduct chemical tests to determine gas quality and sulfur or moisture content, or send samples to laboratories for analysis. | 6.2% | 6.2% | 87.5% | 3.98 | untouched |
| Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, and replace filters and gaskets, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.76 | untouched |
| Maintain each station by performing general housekeeping duties such as painting, washing, and cleaning. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.56 | untouched |
| Connect pipelines between pumps and containers that are being filled or emptied. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.20 | 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.