AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Chemical Plant and System Operators?

Task-level automation exposure for Chemical Plant and System Operators: 19 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

32% weighted task index

19 of 19 tasks scored

Median Salary

$78,120 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

16,610 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-5.2% employment change

1,300 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 35 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$45,830 – $128,830

Highest medians

Florida $128,830

Wyoming $107,810

Texas $102,750

Louisiana $100,060

Kentucky $97,550

Lowest medians

Tennessee $45,830

Indiana $49,110

Georgia $49,230

Missouri $55,470

South Dakota $59,970

State figures come from the 51-8091 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 32%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 42%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 14%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 6%

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 33/100 Moderate

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

19 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) 22%

4 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 5%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 73%

14 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

#10494 · Core · 30% automatable

Monitor recording instruments, flowmeters, panel lights, or other indicators and listen for warning signals to verify conformity of process conditions.

visual inspection — Instrument monitoring needs physical sensor presence

Monitor instruments to ensure proper production conditions.

#10493 · Core · 15% automatable

Move control settings to make necessary adjustments on equipment units affecting speeds of chemical reactions, quality, or yields.

physical manipulation — Chemical and water systems controlled physically on site

Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.

#10498 · Core · 15% automatable

Draw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met.

physical manipulation — Chemical/physical testing requires lab manipulation

Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products. Collect samples of materials or products for testing.

#10496 · Core · 82% automatable

Record operating data, such as process conditions, test results, or instrument readings.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Record operational or production data.

#10495 · Core · 15% automatable

Control or operate chemical processes or systems of machines, using panelboards, control boards, or semi-automatic equipment.

physical manipulation — Chemical and water systems controlled physically on site

Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.

#10502 · Core · 15% automatable

Patrol work areas to ensure that solutions in tanks or troughs are not in danger of overflowing.

physical manipulation — Checking fluid levels is hands-on physical work

Monitor equipment fluid levels.

#10499 · Core · 15% automatable

Regulate or shut down equipment during emergency situations, as directed by supervisory personnel.

physical manipulation — Chemical and water systems controlled physically on site

Operate chemical processing or water treatment systems or equipment.

#10500 · Core · 15% automatable

Start pumps to wash and rinse reactor vessels, to exhaust gases or vapors, to regulate the flow of oil, steam, air, or perfume to towers, or to add products to converter or blending vessels.

physical manipulation — Pumping systems operated and adjusted in field

Operate pumping systems or equipment.

#10497 · Core · 55% automatable

Confer with technical and supervisory personnel to report or resolve conditions affecting safety, efficiency, or product quality.

decision support — Diagnosis support good; physical resolution needs humans

Confer with others to resolve production problems or equipment malfunctions.

#10506 · Core · 15% automatable

Turn valves to regulate flow of products or byproducts through agitator tanks, storage drums, or neutralizer tanks.

physical manipulation — Hands-on production flow control

Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of production materials or products.

#10503 · Core · 65% automatable

Notify maintenance, stationary engineering, or other auxiliary personnel to correct equipment malfunctions or to adjust power, steam, water, or air supplies.

text generation — Notifying maintenance needs is routine messaging

Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs.

#10504 · Core · 18% automatable

Inspect operating units, such as towers, soap-spray storage tanks, scrubbers, collectors, or driers to ensure that all are functioning and to maintain maximum efficiency.

visual inspection — Physical inspection of production machinery in situ

Inspect production equipment.

#10501 · Core · 78% automatable

Interpret chemical reactions visible through sight glasses or on television monitors and review laboratory test reports for process adjustments.

data analysis — AI analyzes test results against criteria

Analyze test results.

#10507 · Core · 65% automatable

Calculate material requirements or yields according to formulas.

data analysis — Material requirement calc; human confirms specs

Estimate material requirements for production.

#10505 · Core · 30% automatable

Direct workers engaged in operating machinery that regulates the flow of materials and products.

interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority

Direct operational or production activities.

#10508 · Core · 15% automatable

Gauge tank levels, using calibrated rods.

physical manipulation — Checking fluid levels is hands-on physical work

Monitor equipment fluid levels.

#10509 · Core · 10% automatable

Repair or replace damaged equipment.

physical manipulation — Hands-on removal and fitting of worn components

Replace worn equipment components. Repair production equipment or tools.

#10511 · Core · 30% automatable

Supervise the cleaning of towers, strainers, or spray tips.

interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority

Direct operational or production activities.

#10510 · Core · 10% automatable

Defrost frozen valves, using steam hoses.

physical manipulation — Hands-on repair of production machinery

Repair production equipment or tools.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

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

See the full method →

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