AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

Task-level automation exposure for Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders: 28 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

20% weighted task index

28 of 28 tasks scored

Median Salary

$46,570 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

44,980 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-0.9% employment change

5,400 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.

$25,010 – $58,260

Highest medians

Minnesota $58,260

Vermont $52,220

Colorado $51,750

Montana $51,540

Oregon $51,180

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $25,010

New Mexico $32,770

Oklahoma $37,910

West Virginia $37,920

Alabama $39,740

State figures come from the 51-9032 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 20%

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

Physical work 80%

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 4%

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 45/100 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

28 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) 9%

2 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 8%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 83%

24 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

#12421 · Core · 11% automatable

Remove defective or substandard materials from machines, and readjust machine components so that products meet standards.

physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications. Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.

#12424 · Core · 82% automatable

Maintain production records, such as quantities, types, and dimensions of materials produced.

data analysis — Record production data into structured logs

Record operational or production data.

#12426 · Core · 21% automatable

Start machines to verify setups, and make any necessary adjustments.

physical manipulation — Operating production equipment physically on site

Conduct test runs of production equipment. Operate cutting equipment.

#12422 · Core · 12% automatable

Press buttons, pull levers, or depress pedals to start and operate cutting and slicing machines.

physical manipulation — Cutting equipment operation is manual and judgment-based

Operate cutting equipment.

#12419 · Core · 66% automatable

Review work orders, blueprints, specifications, or job samples to determine components, settings, and adjustments for cutting and slicing machines.

visual inspection — Blueprint setup reading partial, human confirms

Study blueprints or other instructions to determine equipment setup requirements.

#12423 · Core · 12% automatable

Adjust machine controls to alter position, alignment, speed, or pressure.

physical manipulation — Cutting equipment operation is manual and judgment-based

Operate cutting equipment.

#12416 · Core · 25% automatable

Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices, such as rulers, micrometers, or scales.

physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces

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

#12427 · Core · 5% automatable

Remove completed materials or products from cutting or slicing machines, and stack or store them for additional processing.

physical manipulation — Physically extracting parts from production equipment

Stack finished items for further processing or shipment. Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.

#12418 · Core · 7% automatable

Stack and sort cut material for packaging, further processing, or shipping, according to types and sizes of material.

physical manipulation — Physical product sorting needs manipulation in warehouse

Sort materials or products for processing, storing, shipping, or grading. Stack finished items for further processing or shipment.

#12420 · Core · 35% automatable

Type instructions on computer keyboards, push buttons to activate computer programs, or manually set cutting guides, clamps, and knives.

physical manipulation — Command entry often needs physical equipment interface

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications. Enter commands, instructions, or specifications into equipment.

#12428 · Core · 30% automatable

Select and install machine components, such as cutting blades, rollers, and templates, according to specifications, using hand tools.

decision support — Equipment selection against specs; human verifies fit

Select production equipment according to product specifications. Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment.

#12433 · Core · 5% automatable

Position stock along cutting lines, or against stops on beds of scoring or cutting machines.

physical manipulation — Positioning raw materials is physical loading

Position raw materials on processing or production equipment.

#12425 · Core · 38% automatable

Monitor operation of cutting or slicing machines to detect malfunctions or to determine whether supplies need replenishment.

visual inspection — Malfunction detection relies on live physical observation

Watch operating equipment to detect malfunctions.

#12432 · Core · 5% automatable

Feed stock into cutting machines, onto conveyors, or under cutting blades, by threading, guiding, pushing, or turning handwheels.

physical manipulation — Feeding materials into equipment is physical

Feed materials or products into or through equipment.

#12429 · Core · 8% automatable

Move stock or scrap to and from machines manually, or by using carts, handtrucks, or lift trucks.

physical manipulation — Physical moving of products between work areas

Move products, materials, or equipment between work areas.

#12435 · Core · 8% automatable

Change or replace saw blades, cables, cutter heads, and grinding wheels, using hand tools.

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

Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. Replace worn equipment components.

#12430 · Core · 8% automatable

Clean and lubricate cutting machines, conveyors, blades, saws, or knives, using steam hoses, scrapers, brushes, or oil cans.

physical manipulation — Manual lubrication of production equipment

Clean production equipment. Lubricate production equipment.

#12417 · Core · 12% automatable

Set up, operate, or tend machines that cut or slice materials, such as glass, stone, cork, rubber, tobacco, food, paper, or insulating material.

physical manipulation — Cutting equipment operation is manual and judgment-based

Operate cutting equipment.

#12436 · Core · 10% automatable

Mark cutting lines or identifying information on stock, using marking pencils, rulers, or scribes.

physical manipulation — Marking workpieces is hands-on physical task

Mark products, workpieces, or equipment with identifying information. Draw guide lines or markings on materials or workpieces using patterns or other references.

#12434 · Supplemental · 14% automatable

Start pumps to circulate water and abrasives onto blades or cables during cutting.

physical manipulation — Hands-on pump and compressor operation

Operate pumps or compressors. Control pumps or pumping equipment. Operate cutting equipment.

#12439 · Supplemental · 30% automatable

Direct workers on cutting teams.

interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority

Direct operational or production activities.

#12431 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.

physical manipulation — Rigging and lifting loads with cranes is hands-on

Lift materials or workpieces using cranes or other lifting equipment. Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment. Signal others to coordinate work activities. Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning.

#12440 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Tighten pulleys or add abrasives to maintain cutting speeds.

physical manipulation — Cutting equipment operation is manual and judgment-based

Operate cutting equipment.

#12438 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Position width gauge blocks between blades, and level blades and insert wedges into frames to secure blades to frames.

physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications. Set equipment guides, stops, spacers, or other fixtures.

#12442 · Supplemental · 11% automatable

Sharpen cutting blades, knives, or saws, using files, bench grinders, or honing stones.

physical manipulation — Grinding requires hands-on control and feel

Operate grinding equipment. Sharpen cutting or grinding tools.

#12441 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Cut stock manually to prepare for machine cutting, using tools such as knives, cleavers, handsaws, or hammers and chisels.

physical manipulation — Hands-on industrial material cutting

Cut industrial materials in preparation for fabrication or processing.

#12437 · Supplemental · 10% automatable

Turn cranks or press buttons to activate winches that move cars under sawing cables or saw frames.

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

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

#12443 · Supplemental · 8% automatable

Wash stones, using water hoses.

physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of physical workpieces

Clean workpieces or finished products. Clean objects. Clean materials to prepare them for production.

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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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