AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Tapers?

Task-level automation exposure for Tapers: 16 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

12% weighted task index

16 of 16 tasks scored

Median Salary

$68,270 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Low

12,840 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-1.6% employment change

900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 28 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$27,570 – $113,180

Highest medians

Illinois $113,180

Hawaii $95,490

Pennsylvania $82,240

Washington $79,040

Minnesota $78,090

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $27,570

West Virginia $41,600

Indiana $42,810

Texas $43,670

North Carolina $45,770

State figures come from the 47-2082 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 12%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 88%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 12%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 0%

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

16 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) 0%

0 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 12%

2 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 88%

14 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

#13531 · Core · 10% automatable

Press paper tape over joints to embed tape into sealing compound and to seal joints.

physical manipulation — Applying sealants requires hands-on coating

Apply sealants or other protective coatings.

#13533 · Core · 8% automatable

Spread and smooth cementing material over tape, using trowels or floating machines to blend joints with wall surfaces.

physical manipulation — Hands-on adhesive application in unstructured construction settings

Apply adhesives to construction materials.

#13530 · Core · 10% automatable

Spread sealing compound between boards or panels or over cracks, holes, nail heads, or screw heads, using trowels, broadknives, or spatulas.

physical manipulation — Applying sealants requires hands-on coating

Apply sealants or other protective coatings.

#20788 · Core · 3% automatable

Work on high ceilings, using scaffolding or other tools, such as stilts.

situated mobility — Climbing structures requires physical mobility

Climb equipment or structures to access work areas.

#13534 · Core · 5% automatable

Seal joints between plasterboard or other wallboard to prepare wall surfaces for painting or papering.

physical manipulation — Applying filler to surfaces is hands-on

Apply material to fill gaps in surfaces.

#13537 · Core · 5% automatable

Apply additional coats to fill in holes and make surfaces smooth.

physical manipulation — Applying filler to surfaces is hands-on

Apply material to fill gaps in surfaces.

#13540 · Core · 12% automatable

Countersink nails or screws below surfaces of walls before applying sealing compounds, using hammers or screwdrivers.

physical manipulation — Drilling construction materials is hands-on tool work

Drill holes in construction materials.

#13532 · Core · 12% automatable

Mix sealing compounds by hand or with portable electric mixers.

physical manipulation — Physical handling of substances in workspace

Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.

#13535 · Core · 8% automatable

Sand or patch nicks or cracks in plasterboard or wallboard.

physical manipulation — Abrasive hand work on physical surfaces

Smooth surfaces with abrasive materials or tools.

#13541 · Core · 55% automatable

Select the correct sealing compound or tape.

decision support — Construction material selection needs code and site judgment

Select construction materials.

#13538 · Core · 3% automatable

Install metal molding at wall corners to secure wallboard.

physical manipulation — Metal structural installation is hands-on

Install metal structural components.

#13536 · Core · 8% automatable

Use mechanical applicators that spread compounds and embed tape in one operation.

physical manipulation — Hands-on adhesive application in unstructured construction settings

Apply adhesives to construction materials.

#13543 · Core · 45% automatable

Check adhesives to ensure that they will work and will remain durable.

visual inspection — Material quality often needs hands-on or visual inspection

Evaluate quality of materials or products.

#13539 · Core · 8% automatable

Sand rough spots of dried cement between applications of compounds.

physical manipulation — Abrasive hand work on physical surfaces

Smooth surfaces with abrasive materials or tools.

#13529 · Core · 4% automatable

Remove extra compound after surfaces have been covered sufficiently.

physical manipulation — Hands-on removal of excess construction materials

Remove excess materials from finished construction projects.

#13542 · Core · 4% automatable

Apply texturizing compounds or primers to walls or ceilings before final finishing, using trowels, brushes, rollers, or spray guns.

physical manipulation — Hands-on surface preparation before finishing

Prepare surfaces for finishing.

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Community Sentiment

Do you agree?

Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?

Method

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

See the full method →

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