AI exposure: Machinists
Set up and operate a variety of machine tools to produce precision parts and instruments out of metal. Includes precision instrument makers who fabricate, modify, or repair mechanical instruments. May also fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or maintain industrial machines, applying knowledge of mechanics, mathematics, metal properties, layout, and machining procedures.
Reading this score
computedAt 19.7% of weighted task load, Machinists sits at the 35th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 69.0% 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 29 tasks it averages 2.07 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 numerical control programmers to check and ensure that new programs or machinery..., at 60.0%. The least is Install experimental parts or assemblies, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% 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 more exposed than most. The median across the 107 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 30 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 29 tasks, 10 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 18 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 | 1.26 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.07 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.36 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.62 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.36 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.12 | 0-3 |
Task by task
29 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confer with numerical control programmers to check and ensure that new programs or machinery will function properly and that output will meet specifications. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.33 | exposed |
| Confer with engineering, supervisory, or manufacturing personnel to exchange technical information. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.02 | exposed |
| Establish work procedures for fabricating new structural products, using a variety of metalworking machines. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Evaluate machining procedures and recommend changes or modifications for improved efficiency or adaptability. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.29 | exposed |
| Advise clients about the materials being used for finished products. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.56 | exposed |
| Study sample parts, blueprints, drawings, or engineering information to determine methods or sequences of operations needed to fabricate products. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Monitor the feed and speed of machines during the machining process. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.46 | exposed |
| Design fixtures, tooling, or experimental parts to meet special engineering needs. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.07 | exposed |
| Prepare working sketches for the illustration of product appearance. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.88 | exposed |
| Program computers or electronic instruments, such as numerically controlled machine tools. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.54 | exposed |
| Calculate dimensions or tolerances, using instruments, such as micrometers or vernier calipers. | 25.0% | 12.5% | 62.5% | 4.79 | untouched |
| Diagnose machine tool malfunctions to determine need for adjustments or repairs. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.08 | assisted |
| Support metalworking projects from planning and fabrication through assembly, inspection, and testing, using knowledge of machine functions, metal properties, and mathematics. | 22.5% | 15.0% | 62.5% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Set up, adjust, or operate basic or specialized machine tools used to perform precision machining operations. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.56 | untouched |
| Machine parts to specifications, using machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, shapers, or grinders. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.77 | untouched |
| Check work pieces to ensure that they are properly lubricated or cooled. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Operate equipment to verify operational efficiency. | 14.2% | 10.8% | 75.0% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Test experimental models under simulated operating conditions, for purposes such as development, standardization, or feasibility of design. | 12.5% | 12.5% | 75.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Maintain machine tools in proper operational condition. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Set up or operate metalworking, brazing, heat-treating, welding, or cutting equipment. | 6.7% | 5.8% | 87.5% | 3.94 | untouched |
| Measure, examine, or test completed units to check for defects and ensure conformance to specifications, using precision instruments, such as micrometers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.62 | untouched |
| Fit and assemble parts to make or repair machine tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Align and secure holding fixtures, cutting tools, attachments, accessories, or materials onto machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.34 | untouched |
| Dispose of scrap or waste material in accordance with company policies and environmental regulations. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Lay out, measure, and mark metal stock to display placement of cuts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Separate scrap waste and related materials for reuse, recycling, or disposal. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.99 | untouched |
| Install repaired parts into equipment or install new equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Dismantle machines or equipment, using hand tools or power tools to examine parts for defects and replace defective parts where needed. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Install experimental parts or assemblies, such as hydraulic systems, electrical wiring, lubricants, or batteries into machines or mechanisms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.57 | 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.