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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Office Machine Operators, Except Computer?
Task-level automation exposure for Office Machine Operators, Except Computer: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
37%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$40,960 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
25,130 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-14.9%
employment change
2,100 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.
$24,480 – $56,010
Highest medians
Alaska $56,010
Vermont $48,380
Massachusetts $47,470
California $47,150
Colorado $46,860
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $24,480
Arizona $32,060
New Hampshire $32,590
South Carolina $33,870
Mississippi $34,640
State figures come from the 43-9071 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 37%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 61%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 18%
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 0/100
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
18 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) 29%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 6%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 65%
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
#13288 · Core · 78% automatable
Read job orders to determine the type of work to be done, the quantities to be produced, and the materials needed.
information retrieval — Extract material requirements from work orders
Read work orders to determine material or setup requirements.
#13301 · Core · 10% automatable
Deliver completed work.
situated mobility — Physical delivery of items in real environments
Deliver items.
#13290 · Core · 20% automatable
Place original copies in feed trays, feed originals into feed rolls, or position originals on tables beneath camera lenses.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of office machines and jams
Operate office equipment.
#13292 · Core · 48% automatable
Sort, assemble, and proof completed work.
data analysis — Compiling data or documentation is largely automatable
Sort materials or products. Compile data or documentation.
#13289 · Core · 20% automatable
Operate office machines such as high speed business photocopiers, readers, scanners, addressing machines, stencil-cutting machines, microfilm readers or printers, folding and inserting machines, bursters, and binder machines.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of office machines and jams
Operate office equipment.
#13300 · Core · 82% automatable
Complete records of production, including work volumes and outputs, materials used, and any backlogs.
data analysis — Record production information into systems
Record production information.
#13291 · Core · 63% automatable
Compute prices for services and receive payment, or provide supervisors with billing information.
data analysis — Cost calculation from structured inputs
Calculate costs of goods or services. Provide information to coworkers. Collect deposits, payments or fees.
#13293 · Core · 12% automatable
Set up and adjust machines, regulating factors such as speed, ink flow, focus, and number of copies.
physical manipulation — Hands-on adjustment of physical office equipment
Adjust office equipment to ensure proper operation.
#13295 · Core · 20% automatable
Load machines with materials such as blank paper or film.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of office machines and jams
Operate office equipment.
#13294 · Core · 27% automatable
Monitor machine operation, and make adjustments as necessary to ensure proper operation.
visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human
Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning. Adjust office equipment to ensure proper operation.
#13298 · Core · 27% automatable
Clean machines, perform minor repairs, and report major repair needs.
text generation — Reporting maintenance problems is routine messaging
Clean facilities or equipment. Maintain office equipment in proper operating condition. Report maintenance or equipment problems to appropriate personnel.
#13297 · Core · 15% automatable
File and store completed documents.
physical manipulation — Physical filing and storage of records
Store records or related materials.
#13299 · Core · 20% automatable
Operate auxiliary machines such as collators, pad and tablet making machines, staplers, and paper punching, folding, cutting, and perforating machines.
physical manipulation — Physical operation of office machines and jams
Operate office equipment.
#13296 · Core · 75% automatable
Maintain stock of supplies, and requisition any needed items.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#13302 · Core · 85% automatable
Prepare and process papers for use in scanning, microfilming, and microfiche.
data analysis — Compiling data or documentation is largely automatable
Compile data or documentation.
#13304 · Core · 9% automatable
Clean and file master copies or plates.
physical manipulation — Physical office equipment servicing
Clean facilities or equipment. Maintain office equipment in proper operating condition.
#13303 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Cut copies apart and write identifying information, such as page numbers or titles, on copies.
physical manipulation — Attaching tags to containers is physical
Attach identification information to products, items or containers.
#13305 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Move heat units and clamping frames over screen beds to form Braille impressions on pages, raising frames to release individual copies.
physical manipulation — Hands-on adjustment of physical office equipment
Adjust office equipment to ensure proper operation.
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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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