AI exposure: Machine Feeders and Offbearers
Feed materials into or remove materials from machines or equipment that is automatic or tended by other workers.
Reading this score
computedAt 11.3% of weighted task load, Machine Feeders and Offbearers sits at the 17th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 83.5% 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 13 tasks it averages 2.85 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 production and operational data, at 73.3%. The least is Add chemicals, solutions, or ingredients to machines or equipment as required by the..., 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 less exposed than the median of 24.3% across the group's 52 roles, with 42 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 13 tasks, 1 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 12 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 | 0.54 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.85 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.04 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.15 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.62 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.46 | 0-3 |
Task by task
13 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record production and operational data, such as amount of materials processed. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.39 | exposed |
| Push dual control buttons and move controls to start, stop, or adjust machinery and equipment. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Open and close gates of belt and pneumatic conveyors on machines that are fed directly from preceding machines. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Inspect materials and products for defects, and to ensure conformance to specifications. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.40 | untouched |
| Weigh or measure materials or products to ensure conformance to specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Identify and mark materials, products, and samples, following instructions. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Clean and maintain machinery, equipment, and work areas to ensure proper functioning and safe working conditions. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Load materials and products into machines and equipment, or onto conveyors, using hand tools and moving devices. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Transfer materials and products to and from machinery and equipment, using industrial trucks or hand trucks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Fasten, package, or stack materials and products, using hand tools and fastening equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Remove materials and products from machines and equipment, and place them in boxes, trucks or conveyors, using hand tools and moving devices. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Shovel or scoop materials into containers, machines, or equipment for processing, storage, or transport. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Add chemicals, solutions, or ingredients to machines or equipment as required by the manufacturing process. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.62 | 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.