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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders?
Task-level automation exposure for Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders: 24 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
27%
weighted task index
24 of 24 tasks scored
Median Salary
$58,040 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
139,630 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+3.6%
employment change
13,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 48 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$36,450 – $101,590
Highest medians
Wyoming $101,590
Alabama $80,330
Montana $79,570
Louisiana $78,580
Idaho $77,100
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $36,450
Utah $39,020
Florida $44,360
Arizona $45,790
Hawaii $47,840
State figures come from the 51-9011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 27%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 56%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 11%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 5%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 11/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
24 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 19%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 5%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 76%
18 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#12334 · Core · 10% automatable
Observe safety precautions to prevent fires or explosions.
situated mobility — Physical presence maintaining safety in world
Maintain safety.
#12339 · Core · 38% automatable
Patrol work areas to detect leaks or equipment malfunctions or to monitor operating conditions.
visual inspection — Malfunction detection relies on live physical observation
Watch operating equipment to detect malfunctions.
#12335 · Core · 30% automatable
Monitor gauges, recording instruments, flowmeters, or products to ensure that specified conditions are maintained.
visual inspection — Instrument monitoring needs physical sensor presence
Monitor instruments to ensure proper production conditions.
#12338 · Core · 17% automatable
Inspect equipment or units to detect leaks or malfunctions, shutting equipment down, if necessary.
visual inspection — Physical inspection of production machinery in situ
Inspect production equipment. Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.
#12342 · Core · 82% automatable
Record operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#12341 · Core · 8% automatable
Draw samples of products at specified stages so that analyses can be performed.
physical manipulation — Manual product sampling
Collect samples of materials or products for testing.
#12337 · Core · 19% automatable
Measure, weigh, and mix chemical ingredients, according to specifications.
physical manipulation — Physical measuring and dispensing of ingredients
Measure ingredients or substances to be used in production processes. Mix substances to create chemical solutions.
#12345 · Core · 15% automatable
Open valves or start pumps, agitators, reactors, blowers, or automatic feed of materials.
physical manipulation — Pumping systems operated and adjusted in field
Operate pumping systems or equipment.
#12340 · Core · 22% automatable
Test product samples for specific gravity, chemical characteristics, pH levels, concentrations, or viscosities, or send them to laboratories for testing.
physical manipulation — Chemical/physical testing requires lab manipulation
Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products.
#12333 · Core · 17% automatable
Adjust controls to regulate temperature, pressure, feed, or flow of liquids or gases and times of prescribed reactions, according to knowledge of equipment and processes.
physical manipulation — Manual temperature control adjustment
Adjust equipment controls to regulate gas flow. Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment.
#12336 · Core · 15% automatable
Control or operate equipment in which chemical changes or reactions take place during the processing of industrial or consumer products.
physical manipulation — Chemical and water systems controlled physically on site
Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.
#24059 · Core · 4% automatable
Load products into tanks for shipment.
physical manipulation — Physical lifting and loading of shipments
Load shipments, belongings, or materials. Load materials into equipment for processing. Load materials or equipment.
#12353 · Core · 65% automatable
Estimate materials required for production and manufacturing of products.
data analysis — Material requirement calc; human confirms specs
Estimate material requirements for production.
#12352 · Core · 4% automatable
Dump or scoop prescribed solid, granular, or powdered materials into equipment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on loading of materials into equipment
Load materials into production equipment.
#12346 · Core · 73% automatable
Read plant specifications to determine products, ingredients, or prescribed modifications of plant procedures.
information retrieval — Parse specs and materials from orders
Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements. Review blueprints or other instructions to determine operational methods or sequences.
#12343 · Core · 65% automatable
Notify maintenance engineers of equipment malfunctions.
text generation — Notifying maintenance needs is routine messaging
Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs.
#12347 · Core · 5% automatable
Drain equipment, and pump water or other solutions through to flush and clean tanks or equipment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of equipment in unstructured settings
Clean production equipment.
#12350 · Core · 30% automatable
Observe and compare colors and consistencies of products to instrument readings and to laboratory and standard test results.
visual inspection — Vision AI assists but physical comparison is human
Compare physical characteristics of materials or products to specifications or standards.
#12344 · Core · 5% automatable
Add treating or neutralizing agents to products, and pump products through filters or centrifuges to remove impurities or to precipitate products.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of equipment in unstructured settings
Clean production equipment.
#12351 · Core · 30% automatable
Implement appropriate industrial emergency response procedures.
interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority
Direct operational or production activities.
#12348 · Core · 10% automatable
Make minor repairs, lubricate, and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Hands-on repair of production machinery
Repair production equipment or tools. Maintain production or processing equipment. Lubricate production equipment.
#12349 · Core · 5% automatable
Flush or clean equipment, using steam hoses or mechanical reamers.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of equipment in unstructured settings
Clean production equipment.
#12355 · Core · 30% automatable
Direct activities of workers assisting in control or verification of processes or in unloading of materials.
interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority
Direct operational or production activities.
#12354 · Supplemental · 70% automatable
Inventory supplies received and consumed.
data analysis — Materials inventory records and forecasting automatable
Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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