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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?
Task-level automation exposure for Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
26%
weighted task index
15 of 15 tasks scored
Median Salary
$52,800 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
12,460 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-13.2%
employment change
1,000 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 36 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$35,760 – $86,460
Highest medians
Washington $86,460
Connecticut $79,300
Kentucky $66,440
Illinois $63,360
Massachusetts $62,380
Lowest medians
Alabama $35,760
Georgia $38,340
Mississippi $39,100
Oklahoma $40,250
Tennessee $43,710
State figures come from the 51-4035 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 26%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 73%
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 26/100
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
15 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) 20%
3 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 0%
0 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 80%
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
#14001 · Core · 6% automatable
Remove workpieces from machines, and check to ensure that they conform to specifications, using measuring instruments such as microscopes, gauges, calipers, and micrometers.
physical manipulation — Physically extracting parts from production equipment
Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.
#14007 · Core · 6% automatable
Verify alignment of workpieces on machines, using measuring instruments such as rules, gauges, or calipers.
physical manipulation — Aligning parts for assembly needs hands and judgment
Align parts or workpieces to ensure proper assembly.
#14005 · Core · 15% automatable
Move controls to set cutting specifications, to position cutting tools and workpieces in relation to each other, and to start machines.
physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting
Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.
#14002 · Core · 25% automatable
Observe milling or planing machine operation, and adjust controls to ensure conformance with specified tolerances.
visual inspection — Physical product flaw monitoring is on-machine
Monitor equipment operation to ensure that products are not flawed.
#14011 · Core · 30% automatable
Select and install cutting tools and other accessories according to specifications, using hand tools or power tools.
decision support — Equipment selection against specs; human verifies fit
Select production equipment according to product specifications. Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment.
#14003 · Core · 5% automatable
Position and secure workpieces on machines, using holding devices, measuring instruments, hand tools, and hoists.
physical manipulation — Mounting workpieces is physical loading
Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment.
#14010 · Core · 11% automatable
Replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders.
physical manipulation — Grinding requires hands-on control and feel
Operate grinding equipment. Replace worn equipment components. Sharpen cutting or grinding tools.
#14004 · Core · 73% automatable
Study blueprints, layouts, sketches, or work orders to assess workpiece specifications and to determine tooling instructions, tools and materials needed, and sequences of operations.
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.
#14006 · Core · 72% automatable
Compute dimensions, tolerances, and angles of workpieces or machines according to specifications and knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
data analysis — Dimension calculations from given specs
Calculate dimensions of workpieces, products, or equipment.
#14009 · Core · 5% automatable
Move cutters or material manually or by turning handwheels, or engage automatic feeding mechanisms to mill workpieces to specifications.
physical manipulation — Feeding materials into equipment is physical
Feed materials or products into or through equipment.
#14015 · Core · 5% automatable
Mount attachments and tools, such as pantographs, engravers, or routers, to perform other operations, such as drilling or boring.
physical manipulation — Mounting tools requires hands-on setup
Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment.
#14008 · Core · 28% automatable
Select cutting speeds, feed rates, and depths of cuts, applying knowledge of metal properties and shop mathematics.
decision support — Equipment settings need machine-specific judgment
Determine production equipment settings. Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.
#14012 · Core · 82% automatable
Record production output.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#14013 · Core · 15% automatable
Turn valves or pull levers to start and regulate the flow of coolant or lubricant to work areas.
physical manipulation — Physical valve/control manipulation for coolant
Adjust equipment controls to regulate coolant flow.
#14014 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Make templates or cutting tools.
physical manipulation — Physical construction of templates and work aids
Construct patterns, templates, or other work aids.
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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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