AI exposure: Helpers--Production Workers
Help production workers by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
Reading this score
computedAt 9.0% of weighted task load, Helpers--Production Workers sits at the 12th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 86.1% 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 34 tasks it averages 2.84 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 Read gauges or charts, and record data obtained, at 73.3%. The least is Thread ends of items such as thread, cloth, and lace through needles and rollers, and around..., 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 production occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 87 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 34 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 30 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 | 0.49 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.84 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.29 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.39 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.84 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.81 | 0-3 |
Task by task
34 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read gauges or charts, and record data obtained. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.91 | exposed |
| Record information, such as the number of products tested, meter readings, or dates and times of product production. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.88 | exposed |
| Observe equipment operations so that malfunctions can be detected, and notify operators of any malfunctions. | 35.4% | 27.1% | 37.5% | 4.23 | exposed |
| Turn valves to regulate flow of liquids or air, to reverse machines, to start pumps, or to regulate equipment. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.82 | exposed |
| Count finished products to determine if product orders are complete. | 20.0% | 5.0% | 75.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Operate machinery used in the production process, or assist machine operators. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Start machines or equipment to begin production processes. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Examine products to verify conformance to quality standards. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Lift raw materials, finished products, and packed items, manually or using hoists. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Mark or tag identification on parts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Load and unload items from machines, conveyors, and conveyances. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.09 | untouched |
| Remove products, machine attachments, or waste material from machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Separate products according to weight, grade, size, or composition of materials used to produce them. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Pack and store materials and products. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.87 | untouched |
| Wash work areas, machines, equipment, vehicles, or products. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.87 | untouched |
| Place products in equipment or on work surfaces for further processing, inspecting, or wrapping. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.82 | untouched |
| Transfer finished products, raw materials, tools, or equipment between storage and work areas of plants and warehouses, by hand or using hand trucks or powered lift trucks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.79 | untouched |
| Help production workers by performing duties of lesser skill, such as supplying or holding materials or tools, or cleaning work areas and equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.77 | untouched |
| Prepare raw materials for processing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.10 | untouched |
| Tie products in bundles for further processing or shipment, following prescribed procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.80 | untouched |
| Measure amounts of products, lengths of extruded articles, or weights of filled containers to ensure conformance to specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.80 | untouched |
| Signal coworkers to direct them to move products during the production process. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.55 | untouched |
| Position spouts or chutes of storage bins so that containers can be filled. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.50 | untouched |
| Attach slings, ropes, or cables to objects such as pipes, hoses, or bundles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.43 | untouched |
| Break up defective products for reprocessing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.41 | untouched |
| Perform minor repairs to machines, such as replacing damaged or worn parts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.31 | untouched |
| Fold products and product parts during processing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.26 | untouched |
| Cut or break flashing from materials or products. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.25 | untouched |
| Change machine gears, using wrenches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.20 | untouched |
| Clean and lubricate equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.19 | untouched |
| Dump materials such as prepared ingredients into machine hoppers prior to mixing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.13 | untouched |
| Unclamp and hoist full reels from braiding, winding, or other fabricating machines, using power hoists. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.91 | untouched |
| Mix ingredients according to specified procedures or formulas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.90 | untouched |
| Thread ends of items such as thread, cloth, and lace through needles and rollers, and around take-up tubes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.72 | 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.