Community Sentiment
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Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?
AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Gas Plant Operators?
Task-level automation exposure for Gas Plant Operators: 19 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
36%
weighted task index
19 of 19 tasks scored
Median Salary
$87,820 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
18,030 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-6.0%
employment change
1,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 43 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$63,070 – $130,220
Highest medians
California $130,220
New Jersey $110,900
Oregon $109,760
Connecticut $109,060
Louisiana $108,350
Lowest medians
Kentucky $63,070
Tennessee $66,560
Florida $67,170
South Carolina $67,580
Alabama $77,120
State figures come from the 51-8092 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 36%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 45%
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 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 59/100
High
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) 21%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 17%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 62%
12 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
#14287 · Core · 30% automatable
Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.
visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human
Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning. Inspect production equipment.
#14299 · Core · 20% automatable
Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas distribution equipment
Operate natural gas distribution equipment.
#14288 · Core · 20% automatable
Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas distribution equipment
Operate natural gas distribution equipment.
#14300 · Core · 20% automatable
Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas distribution equipment
Operate natural gas distribution equipment.
#14290 · Core · 82% automatable
Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#14294 · Core · 55% automatable
Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading.
decision support — Generates improvement options; human tailors and owns
Diagnose equipment malfunctions. Advise others on ways to improve processes or products.
#14291 · Core · 15% automatable
Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.
physical manipulation — Manual gas flow control adjustment
Adjust equipment controls to regulate gas flow.
#14293 · Core · 55% automatable
Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems.
decision support — Diagnosis support good; physical resolution needs humans
Confer with others to resolve production problems or equipment malfunctions.
#14286 · Core · 42% automatable
Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.
visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human
Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.
#14289 · Core · 20% automatable
Start and shut down plant equipment.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas generation equipment
Operate natural gas generation equipment.
#14295 · Core · 80% automatable
Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions.
information retrieval — Parse specs and materials from orders
Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements.
#14297 · Core · 65% automatable
Contact maintenance crews when necessary.
text generation — Notifying maintenance needs is routine messaging
Notify others of equipment repair or maintenance needs.
#14296 · Core · 22% automatable
Test gas, chemicals, and air during processing to assess factors such as purity and moisture content, and to detect quality problems or gas or chemical leaks.
physical manipulation — Chemical/physical testing requires lab manipulation
Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products.
#14292 · Core · 8% automatable
Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed.
physical manipulation — Hands-on repair of production machinery
Clean production equipment. Repair production equipment or tools. Maintain production or processing equipment.
#14303 · Core · 19% automatable
Signal or direct workers who tend auxiliary equipment.
interpersonal — Directing production operations is human supervisory authority
Signal others to coordinate work activities. Direct operational or production activities.
#14301 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Control fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers, and related equipment to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas generation equipment
Operate natural gas generation equipment.
#14302 · Supplemental · 78% automatable
Calculate gas ratios to detect deviations from specifications, using testing apparatus.
data analysis — AI analyzes test results against criteria
Analyze test results.
#14304 · Supplemental · 20% automatable
Operate construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of gas distribution equipment
Operate natural gas distribution equipment.
#14298 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Change charts in recording meters.
physical manipulation — Physical production equipment maintenance
Maintain production or processing equipment.
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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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