AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

Task-level automation exposure for Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders: 29 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

14% weighted task index

29 of 29 tasks scored

Median Salary

$48,250 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

High

158,740 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+2.5% employment change

15,300 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 51 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$29,850 – $69,910

Highest medians

Alaska $69,910

Washington $59,980

New Jersey $58,240

Maine $56,200

Maryland $55,510

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $29,850

West Virginia $42,950

Alabama $44,250

Michigan $44,670

New Mexico $45,730

State figures come from the 51-9124 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 14%

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

Physical work 84%

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

Judgment & influence 0%

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

Routine administration 3%

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 4/100 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

29 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) 3%

1 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 4%

1 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 94%

27 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

#23656 · Core · 5% automatable

Dispose of hazardous waste in an appropriate manner.

physical manipulation — Physical disposal of trash and waste

Dispose of trash or waste materials.

#12522 · Core · 5% automatable

Hold or position spray guns to direct spray onto articles.

physical manipulation — Mounting tools requires hands-on setup

Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment.

#23664 · Core · 10% automatable

Spray prepared surfaces with specified amounts of primers and decorative or finish coatings.

physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work

Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.

#23659 · Core · 19% automatable

Monitor painting operations to identify flaws, such as blisters or streaks, and correct their causes.

visual inspection — Physical product flaw monitoring is on-machine

Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed. Operate painting or coating equipment.

#23655 · Core · 7% automatable

Disassemble, clean, and reassemble sprayers or power equipment, using solvents, wire brushes, and cloths.

physical manipulation — Disassembly requires hands-on tool use

Clean production equipment. Disassemble equipment for maintenance or repair.

#12513 · Core · 4% automatable

Fill hoppers, reservoirs, troughs, or pans with material used to coat, paint, or spray, using conveyors or pails.

physical manipulation — Hands-on loading of materials into equipment

Load materials into production equipment.

#23654 · Core · 5% automatable

Clean equipment and work areas.

physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of work areas

Clean work areas. Clean production equipment.

#23652 · Core · 10% automatable

Apply rust-resistant undercoats and caulk and seal seams.

physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work

Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.

#12509 · Core · 12% automatable

Start and stop operation of machines, using levers or buttons.

physical manipulation — Manual spray/coating control requires dexterity and judgment

Operate painting or coating equipment.

#12504 · Core · 25% automatable

Determine paint flow, viscosity, and coating quality by performing visual inspections, or by using viscometers.

visual inspection — Finish inspection is physical/sensory quality check

Inspect finishes of workpieces or finished products.

#12517 · Core · 13% automatable

Attach hoses or nozzles to machines, using wrenches and pliers, and make adjustments to obtain the proper dispersion of spray.

physical manipulation — Hands-on production flow control

Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of production materials or products. Connect supply lines to production equipment or tools.

#12508 · Core · 15% automatable

Turn dials, handwheels, valves, or switches to regulate conveyor speeds, machine temperature, air pressure and circulation, and the flow or spray of coatings or paints.

physical manipulation — Manual temperature control adjustment

Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of production materials or products. Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment. Operate painting or coating equipment.

#12503 · Core · 42% automatable

Observe machine gauges and equipment operation to detect defects or deviations from standards, and make adjustments as necessary.

visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human

Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.

#12521 · Core · 25% automatable

Examine, measure, weigh, or test sample products to ensure conformance to specifications.

physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces

Weigh finished products. Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.

#23653 · Core · 8% automatable

Buff and wax the finished paintwork.

physical manipulation — Manual polishing of workpieces requires dexterity

Polish materials, workpieces, or finished products.

#23665 · Core · 10% automatable

Use brush to hand-paint areas in need of retouching or unreachable with a spray gun.

physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work

Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.

#12516 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Thread or feed items or products through or around machine rollers and dryers.

physical manipulation — Feeding materials into equipment is physical

Feed materials or products into or through equipment.

#12505 · Supplemental · 25% automatable

Weigh or measure chemicals, coatings, or paints before adding them to machines.

physical manipulation — Physical measuring and dispensing of ingredients

Measure ingredients or substances to be used in production processes.

#12512 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Operate auxiliary machines or equipment used in coating or painting processes.

physical manipulation — Manual spray/coating control requires dexterity and judgment

Operate painting or coating equipment.

#12518 · Supplemental · 6% automatable

Remove materials, parts, or workpieces from painting or coating machines, using hand tools.

physical manipulation — Physically extracting parts from production equipment

Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.

#12510 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Record operational data on specified forms.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Record operational or production data.

#23660 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Operate lifting or moving devices to move equipment or materials to access areas to be painted.

physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control

Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.

#23663 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Set up portable equipment, such as ventilators, exhaust units, ladders, or scaffolding.

physical manipulation — Erecting temporary structures requires physical assembly

Assemble temporary equipment or structures.

#23650 · Core · 18% automatable

Adjust controls on infrared ovens, heat lamps, portable ventilators, or exhaust units to speed the drying of surfaces between coats.

physical manipulation — Manual temperature control adjustment

Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment.

#23651 · Core · 10% automatable

Apply primer over any repairs made to surfaces.

physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work

Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.

#23657 · Core · 7% automatable

Fill small dents or scratches with body fillers and smooth surfaces to prepare for painting.

physical manipulation — Hand finishing of metal edges with tools

Smooth metal surfaces or edges. Fill cracks, imperfections, or holes in products or workpieces.

#23658 · Core · 12% automatable

Mix paints to match color specifications or original colors, stirring or thinning paints, using spatulas or power mixing equipment.

physical manipulation — Mixing finishes requires hands-on craft judgment

Mix ingredients to create specific finishes.

#23661 · Core · 4% automatable

Remove grease, dirt, paint, or rust from surfaces in preparation for paint application, using abrasives, solvents, brushes, blowtorches, washing tanks, or sandblasters.

physical manipulation — Hands-on surface preparation before finishing

Prepare surfaces for finishing.

#23662 · Core · 7% automatable

Sand and apply sealer to properly dried finish.

physical manipulation — Applying finishes requires hands-on coating work

Prepare surfaces for finishing. Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.

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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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