AI exposure: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
Mold, shape, form, cast, or carve products such as food products, figurines, tile, pipes, and candles consisting of clay, glass, plaster, concrete, stone, or combinations of materials.
Reading this score
computedAt 10.2% of weighted task load, Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic sits at the 14th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 85.4% 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 24 tasks it averages 2.77 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 work orders or examine parts to determine parts or sections of products to be produced, at 55.0%. The least is Pour, pack, spread, or press plaster, concrete, or other materials into or around models or..., at 0.0%. A gap of 55.0% 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 less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 77 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 24 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 21 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 | 0.44 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.77 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.06 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.17 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.69 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.75 | 0-3 |
Task by task
24 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read work orders or examine parts to determine parts or sections of products to be produced. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.09 | exposed |
| Select sizes and types of molds according to instructions. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.87 | exposed |
| Set the proper operating temperature for each casting. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.93 | exposed |
| Operate and adjust controls of heating equipment to melt material or to cure, dry, or bake filled molds. | 25.0% | 12.5% | 62.5% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Engrave or stamp identifying symbols, letters, or numbers on products. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Trim or remove excess material, using scrapers, knives, or band saws. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.84 | untouched |
| Brush or spray mold surfaces with parting agents or insert paper into molds to ensure smoothness and prevent sticking or seepage. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.02 | untouched |
| Assemble, insert, and adjust wires, tubes, cores, fittings, rods, or patterns into molds, using hand tools and depth gauges. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Clean, finish, and lubricate molds and mold parts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Separate models or patterns from molds and examine products for accuracy. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.94 | untouched |
| Load or stack filled molds in ovens, dryers, or curing boxes, or on storage racks or carts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Align and assemble parts to produce completed products, using gauges and hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Patch broken edges or fractures, using clay or plaster. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Withdraw cores or other loose mold members after castings solidify. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Repair mold defects, such as cracks or broken edges, using patterns, mold boxes, or hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.77 | untouched |
| Measure and cut products to specified dimensions, using measuring and cutting instruments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.76 | untouched |
| Smooth surfaces of molds, using scraping tools or sandpaper. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.73 | untouched |
| Measure ingredients and mix molding, casting material, or sealing compounds to prescribed consistencies, according to formulas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Remove excess materials and level and smooth wet mold mixtures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.69 | untouched |
| Verify dimensions of products, using measuring instruments, such as calipers, vernier gauges, or protractors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.60 | untouched |
| Bore holes or cut grates, risers, or pouring spouts in molds, using power tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.42 | untouched |
| Tap or tilt molds to ensure uniform distribution of materials. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.30 | untouched |
| Construct or form molds for use in casting clay or plaster objects, using plaster, fiberglass, rubber, casting machines, patterns, or flasks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | – | untouched |
| Pour, pack, spread, or press plaster, concrete, or other materials into or around models or molds. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | – | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 2 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
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.