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 Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators?
Task-level automation exposure for Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators: 27 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
34%
weighted task index
27 of 27 tasks scored
Median Salary
$40,610 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
4,800 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-5.6%
employment change
600 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 29 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$29,050 – $57,760
Highest medians
New York $57,760
Virginia $47,380
California $47,320
Florida $46,840
Wisconsin $46,480
Lowest medians
Tennessee $29,050
Ohio $29,770
Alabama $29,850
South Carolina $30,010
Missouri $33,540
State figures come from the 51-9151 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 34%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 48%
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 8%
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 24/100
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
27 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%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 18%
5 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 61%
17 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 07/2017 · Incumbent
Adjust digital images using software.
Constituent Tasks
#19484 · Core · 80% automatable
Select digital images for printing, specify number of images to be printed, and direct to printer, using computer software.
data analysis — Image upload and loading largely automatable
Load digital images onto computers or websites.
#19465 · Core · 15% automatable
Create prints according to customer specifications and laboratory protocols.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19479 · Core · 15% automatable
Produce color or black-and-white photographs, negatives, or slides, applying standard photographic reproduction techniques and procedures.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19486 · Core · 15% automatable
Set or adjust machine controls, according to specifications, type of operation, or material requirements.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19483 · Core · 55% automatable
Review computer-processed digital images for quality.
visual inspection — AI vision can flag print defects; human verifies
Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.
#19476 · Core · 20% automatable
Operate scanners or related computer equipment to digitize negatives, photographic prints, or other images.
physical manipulation — Digital imaging equipment needs physical operation
Operate digital imaging equipment.
#19467 · Core · 4% automatable
Fill tanks of processing machines with solutions such as developer, dyes, stop-baths, fixers, bleaches, or washes.
physical manipulation — Hands-on loading of materials into equipment
Load materials into production equipment.
#19473 · Core · 19% automatable
Measure and mix chemicals to prepare solutions for processing, according to formulas.
physical manipulation — Physical measuring and dispensing of ingredients
Measure ingredients or substances to be used in production processes. Mix substances to create chemical solutions.
#19471 · Core · 80% automatable
Load digital images onto computers directly from cameras or from storage devices, such as flash memory cards or universal serial bus (USB) devices.
data analysis — Image upload and loading largely automatable
Load digital images onto computers or websites.
#19477 · Core · 20% automatable
Operate special equipment to perform tasks such as transferring film to videotape or producing photographic enlargements.
physical manipulation — Digital imaging equipment needs physical operation
Operate digital imaging equipment.
#19466 · Core · 55% automatable
Examine developed prints for defects, such as broken lines, spots, or blurs.
visual inspection — AI vision can flag print defects; human verifies
Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.
#19480 · Core · 73% automatable
Read work orders to determine required processes, techniques, materials, or equipment.
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.
#19470 · Core · 4% automatable
Load circuit boards, racks or rolls of film, negatives, or printing paper into processing or printing machines.
physical manipulation — Hands-on loading of materials into equipment
Load materials into production equipment.
#19469 · Core · 30% automatable
Insert processed negatives and prints into envelopes for delivery to customers.
physical manipulation — Preparing physical mail requires hands-on assembly
Prepare outgoing mail.
#19481 · Core · 15% automatable
Reprint originals for enlargement or in sections to be pieced together.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19488 · Core · 8% automatable
Clean or maintain photoprocessing or darkroom equipment, using ultrasonic equipment or cleaning and rinsing solutions.
physical manipulation — Physical production equipment maintenance
Clean production equipment. Maintain production or processing equipment.
#19474 · Core · 38% automatable
Monitor equipment operation to detect malfunctions.
visual inspection — Malfunction detection relies on live physical observation
Watch operating equipment to detect malfunctions.
#19472 · Core · 82% automatable
Maintain records, such as quantities or types of processing completed, materials used, or customer charges.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#19468 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Immerse film, negatives, paper, or prints in developing solutions, fixing solutions, and water to complete photographic development processes.
physical manipulation — Immersing workpieces in solutions by hand
Immerse objects or workpieces in cleaning or coating solutions.
#19492 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Examine quality of film fades or dissolves for potential color corrections, using color analyzers.
visual inspection — AI vision can flag print defects; human verifies
Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.
#19499 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Thread filmstrips through densitometers or sensitometers and expose film to light to determine density of film, necessary color corrections, or light sensitivity.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19491 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Examine drawings, negatives, or photographic prints to determine coloring, shading, accenting, or other changes required for retouching or restoration.
visual inspection — AI vision can flag print defects; human verifies
Inspected printed materials or other images to verify quality.
#19478 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Place sensitized paper in frames of projection printers, photostats, or other reproduction machines.
physical manipulation — Positioning raw materials is physical loading
Position raw materials on processing or production equipment.
#19500 · Supplemental · 80% automatable
Upload digital images onto Web sites for customers.
data analysis — Image upload and loading largely automatable
Load digital images onto computers or websites.
#19496 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Produce timed prints with separate densities or color settings for each scene of a production.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
#19498 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Splice broken or separated film and mount film on reels.
physical manipulation — Hands-on industrial material cutting
Mount materials or workpieces onto production equipment. Cut industrial materials in preparation for fabrication or processing.
#19482 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Retouch photographic negatives or original prints to correct defects.
physical manipulation — Physical coloring of prints
Apply decorative coloring to photographs or printed materials.
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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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