AI exposure: Construction Laborers
Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites. May operate hand and power tools of all types: air hammers, earth tampers, cement mixers, small mechanical hoists, surveying and measuring equipment, and a variety of other equipment and instruments. May clean and prepare sites, dig trenches, set braces to support the sides of excavations, erect scaffolding, and clean up rubble, debris, and other waste materials. May assist other craft workers.
Reading this score
computedConstruction Laborers is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 5.1% of weighted task load, rank 871 of 923. 91.5% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 27 tasks it averages 2.85 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or..., at 33.3%. The least is Apply caulking compounds by hand or caulking guns to protect against entry of water or air, at 0.0%. A gap of 33.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within construction and extraction occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 61 roles in the group is 5.0%, and only 29 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 27 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 24 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.26 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.85 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.37 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.60 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.01 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.02 | 0-3 |
Task by task
27 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.34 | exposed |
| Tend machines that pump concrete, grout, cement, sand, plaster, or stucco through spray guns for application to ceilings or walls. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 2.72 | exposed |
| Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.90 | exposed |
| Operate or maintain air monitoring or other sampling devices in confined or hazardous environments. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.91 | untouched |
| Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.82 | untouched |
| Position, join, align, or seal structural components, such as concrete wall sections or pipes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Perform site activities required of green certified construction practices, such as implementing waste management procedures, identifying materials for reuse, or installing erosion or sedimentation control mechanisms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.01 | untouched |
| Control traffic passing near, in, or around work zones. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Install sewer, water, or storm drain pipes, using pipe-laying machinery or laser guidance equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.94 | untouched |
| Smooth or finish freshly poured cement or concrete, using floats, trowels, screeds, or powered cement finishing tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary structures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.87 | untouched |
| Provide assistance to craft workers, such as carpenters, plasterers, or masons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.73 | untouched |
| Spray materials, such as water, sand, steam, vinyl, paint, or stucco, through hoses to clean, coat, or seal surfaces. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.47 | untouched |
| Raze buildings or salvage useful materials. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.46 | untouched |
| Mop, brush, or spread paints, cleaning solutions, or other compounds over surfaces to clean them or to provide protection. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.41 | untouched |
| Position or dismantle forms for pouring concrete, using saws, hammers, nails, or bolts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.29 | untouched |
| Grind, scrape, sand, or polish surfaces, such as concrete, marble, terrazzo, or wood flooring, using abrasive tools or machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.19 | untouched |
| Place, consolidate, or protect case-in-place concrete or masonry structures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.16 | untouched |
| Mix ingredients to create compounds for covering or cleaning surfaces. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.05 | untouched |
| Mix, pour, or spread concrete, using portable cement mixers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.96 | untouched |
| Operate jackhammers or drills to break up concrete or pavement. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.95 | untouched |
| Apply caulking compounds by hand or caulking guns to protect against entry of water or air. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.75 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 2 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.