The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 47-2121.00 · Job Zone 2

AI exposure: Glaziers

Install glass in windows, skylights, store fronts, and display cases, or on surfaces, such as building fronts, interior walls, ceilings, and tabletops.

Reading this score

computed

Glaziers is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 5.0% of weighted task load, rank 875 of 923. 91.3% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.

What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 27 tasks it averages 2.74 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 Confer with customers to determine project requirements or to provide cost estimates, at 66.7%. The least is Create patterns on glass by etching, sandblasting, or painting designs, at 0.0%. A gap of 66.7% 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 construction and extraction occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 5.1% across the group's 61 roles, with 31 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 27 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 24 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

judged

Every 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.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability0.390-4
Embodiment2.740-3
Presence0.190-3
Accountability0.510-3
Context0.870-3
Verification cost1.150-3

Task by task

27 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Confer with customers to determine project requirements or to provide cost estimates.66.7%33.3%0.0%3.87exposed
Select the type or color of glass or mirror according to specifications.40.0%35.0%25.0%3.84exposed
Read and interpret blueprints or specifications to determine size, shape, color, type, or thickness of glass, location of framing, installation procedures, or staging or scaffolding materials required.30.0%20.0%50.0%4.37exposed
Determine plumb of walls or ceilings, using plumb lines and levels.10.0%15.0%75.0%4.29untouched
Drive trucks to installation sites and unload mirrors, glass equipment, or tools.7.1%5.4%87.5%4.09untouched
Install pre-assembled metal or wood frameworks for windows or doors to be fitted with glass panels, using hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.23untouched
Fabricate or install metal sashes or moldings for glass installation, using aluminum or steel framing.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.19untouched
Operate cranes or hoists with suction cups to lift large, heavy pieces of glass.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.15untouched
Set glass doors into frames and bolt metal hinges, handles, locks, or other hardware to attach doors to frames and walls.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.15untouched
Cut, fit, install, repair, or replace glass or glass substitutes, such as plastic or aluminum, in building interiors or exteriors or in furniture or other products.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.10untouched
Load and arrange glass or mirrors onto delivery trucks, using suction cups or cranes to lift glass.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.06untouched
Measure mirrors and dimensions of areas to be covered to determine work procedures.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.05untouched
Cut and attach mounting strips, metal or wood moldings, rubber gaskets, or metal clips to surfaces in preparation for mirror installation.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.99untouched
Pack spaces between moldings and glass with glazing compounds and trim excess material with glazing knives.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.99untouched
Assemble, erect, or dismantle scaffolds, rigging, or hoisting equipment.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.97untouched
Cut and remove broken glass prior to installing replacement glass.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.94untouched
Secure mirrors in position, using mastic cement, putty, bolts, or screws.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.94untouched
Measure and mark outlines or patterns on glass to indicate cutting lines.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.83untouched
Grind or polish glass, smoothing edges when necessary.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.80untouched
Fasten glass panes into wood sashes or frames with clips, points, or moldings, adding weather seals or putty around pane edges to seal joints.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.77untouched
Score glass with cutters' wheels, breaking off excess glass by hand or with notched tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.77untouched
Cut, assemble, fit, or attach metal-framed glass enclosures for showers, bathtubs, display cases, skylights, solariums, or other structures.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.73untouched
Prepare glass for cutting by resting it on rack edges or against cutting tables and brushing thin layer of oil along cutting lines or dipping cutting tools in oil.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.61untouched
Move furniture to clear work sites and cover floors or furnishings with drop cloths.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.23untouched
Measure, cut, fit, and press anti-glare adhesive film to glass or spray glass with tinting solution to prevent light glare.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.32untouched
Assemble and cement sections of stained glass together.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.22untouched
Create patterns on glass by etching, sandblasting, or painting designs.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.20untouched

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.