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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Potters, Manufacturing?
Task-level automation exposure for Potters, Manufacturing: 23 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
23 of 23 tasks scored
Median Salary
$46,170 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
33,190 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+5.8%
employment change
5,100 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.
$35,620 – $57,860
Highest medians
Montana $57,860
Hawaii $55,990
Oregon $52,740
Connecticut $52,520
Washington $51,780
Lowest medians
Arkansas $35,620
Alabama $36,730
Wyoming $37,510
Mississippi $37,580
North Carolina $38,190
State figures come from the 51-9195 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 72%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 8%
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 5%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 7/100
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
23 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) 8%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 12%
4 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 80%
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.
- Revision 08/2020 · Incumbent
Apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools such as spray guns.
Replaced: Mix and apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools, such as spray guns.
- New 08/2020 · Incumbent
Decorate pottery using tools such as brushes.
- New 08/2020 · Incumbent
Load and unload pottery from kilns.
- Revision 08/2020 · Incumbent
Mix chemicals according to recipes to create glazes.
Replaced: Mix and apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools, such as spray guns.
Constituent Tasks
#21210 · Core · 15% automatable
Operate gas or electric kilns to fire pottery pieces.
physical manipulation — Physical control of heating/drying equipment
Operate heating or drying equipment.
#21211 · Core · 11% automatable
Revision
Mix and apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools, such as spray guns.
physical manipulation — Mixing finishes requires hands-on craft judgment
Mix ingredients to create specific finishes. Apply protective or decorative finishes to workpieces or products.
#15118 · Core · 4% automatable
Raise and shape clay into wares, such as vases and pitchers, on revolving wheels, using hands, fingers, and thumbs.
physical manipulation — Shaping clay or dough is tactile craft
Shape clay or dough to create products.
#15115 · Core · 15% automatable
Adjust wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner.
physical manipulation — Hands-on equipment adjustment for performance
Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance.
#15117 · Core · 5% automatable
Position balls of clay in centers of potters' wheels, and start motors or pump treadles with feet to revolve wheels.
physical manipulation — Positioning raw materials is physical loading
Position raw materials on processing or production equipment.
#15122 · Core · 6% automatable
Move pieces from wheels so that they can dry.
physical manipulation — Physically extracting parts from production equipment
Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.
#15119 · Core · 17% automatable
Prepare work for sale or exhibition, and maintain relationships with retail, pottery, art, and resource networks that can facilitate sale or exhibition of work.
interpersonal — Professional networking depends on human relationship capital
Construct distinctive physical objects for artistic, functional, or commercial purposes. Develop professional relationships or networks.
#21212 · Core · 8% automatable
Attach handles to pottery pieces.
physical manipulation — Crafting physical objects is manual artisan work
Construct distinctive physical objects for artistic, functional, or commercial purposes.
#15114 · Core · 4% automatable
Press thumbs into centers of revolving clay to form hollows, and press on the inside and outside of emerging clay cylinders with hands and fingers, gradually raising and shaping clay to desired forms and sizes.
physical manipulation — Shaping clay or dough is tactile craft
Shape clay or dough to create products.
#21213 · Core · 40% automatable
Pack and ship pottery to stores or galleries for retail sale.
text generation — Sending digital materials automatable; physical mailing human
Package objects for shipping. Send information, materials or documentation.
#15120 · Core · 8% automatable
Smooth surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges.
physical manipulation — Hand sanding and finishing of physical objects
Smooth surfaces of objects or equipment.
#15123 · Core · 4% automatable
Pull wires through bases of articles and wheels to separate finished pieces.
physical manipulation — Maneuvering workpieces needs hands-on control
Maneuver workpieces in equipment during production.
#21214 · Core · 60% automatable
Design spaces to display pottery for sale.
text generation — Concepts generated; commercial curation human
Develop artistic or design concepts for decoration, exhibition, or commercial purposes.
#15127 · Core · 28% automatable
Verify accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using calipers and templates.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces
Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
#15124 · Core · 28% automatable
Examine finished ware for defects and measure dimensions, using rule and thickness gauge.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces
Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
#15126 · Core · 73% automatable
Maintain supplies of tools, equipment, and materials, and order additional supplies as needed.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products. Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#15131 · Core · 15% automatable
Operate pug mills to blend and extrude clay.
physical manipulation — Hands-on operation of mixing machinery
Operate mixing equipment.
#15125 · Core · 30% automatable
Perform test-fires of pottery to determine how to achieve specific colors and textures.
physical manipulation — Operating production equipment physically on site
Conduct test runs of production equipment.
#15129 · Supplemental · 42% automatable
Start machine units and conveyors and observe lights and gauges on panel board to verify operational efficiency.
visual inspection — Sensor/vision monitoring possible, but physical verification and accountability remain human
Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.
#15128 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Operate drying chambers to dry or finish molded ceramic ware.
physical manipulation — Physical control of heating/drying equipment
Operate heating or drying equipment.
#15130 · Supplemental · 15% automatable
Adjust pressures, temperatures, and trimming tool settings as required.
physical manipulation — Physical control setting for cutting
Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications.
#15121 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Design clay forms and molds, and decorations for forms.
physical manipulation — Jewelry design needs craft and material judgment
Design jewelry or decorative objects.
#15133 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Teach pottery classes.
interpersonal — Course content AI-assisted; live teaching and assessment human
Teach classes in area of specialization.
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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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