AI exposure: Etchers and Engravers
Engrave or etch metal, wood, rubber, or other materials. Includes such workers as etcher-circuit processors, pantograph engravers, and silk screen etchers.
Reading this score
computedAt 15.5% of weighted task load, Etchers and Engravers sits at the 24th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 77.0% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 26 tasks it averages 2.62 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 Use computer software to design patterns for engraving, at 60.0%. The least is Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% 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 production occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 56 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 26 tasks, 5 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 20 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 | 0.83 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.62 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.13 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.13 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.85 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.99 | 0-3 |
Task by task
26 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use computer software to design patterns for engraving. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.49 | exposed |
| Print proofs or examine designs to verify accuracy of engraving, and rework engraving as required. | 36.7% | 13.3% | 50.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.42 | exposed |
| Set reduction scales to attain specified sizes of reproduction on workpieces, and set pantograph controls for required heights, depths, and widths of cuts. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.22 | exposed |
| Examine sketches, diagrams, samples, blueprints, or photographs to decide how designs are to be etched, cut, or engraved onto workpieces. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.45 | exposed |
| Measure and compute dimensions of lettering, designs, or patterns to be engraved. | 26.2% | 11.2% | 62.5% | 4.34 | untouched |
| Determine machine settings, and move bars or levers to reproduce designs on rollers or plates. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.13 | assisted |
| Engrave and print patterns, designs, etchings, trademarks, or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or paper items, using hand tools or hand-held power tools. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Inspect etched work for depth of etching, uniformity, and defects, using calibrated microscopes, gauges, fingers, or magnifying lenses. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.55 | untouched |
| Examine engraving for quality of cut, burrs, rough spots, and irregular or incomplete engraving. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Transfer image to workpiece, using contact printer, pantograph stylus, silkscreen printing device, or stamp pad. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Remove wax or tape from etched glassware by using a stylus or knife, or by immersing ware in hot water. | 9.6% | 2.9% | 87.5% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Start machines and lower cutting tools to beginning points on patterns. | 7.9% | 4.6% | 87.5% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Clean and polish engraved areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Prepare workpieces for etching or engraving by cutting, sanding, cleaning, polishing, or treating them with wax, acid resist, lime, etching powder, or light-sensitive enamel. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.53 | untouched |
| Prepare etching chemicals according to formulas, diluting acid with water to obtain solutions of specified concentration. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.50 | untouched |
| Expose workpieces to acid to develop etch patterns such as designs, lettering, or figures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.43 | untouched |
| Neutralize workpieces to remove acid, wax, or enamel, using water, solvents, brushes, or specialized machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Position and clamp workpieces, plates, or rollers in holding fixtures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Remove completed workpieces and place them in trays. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Insert cutting tools or bits into machines and secure them with wrenches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Sketch, trace, or scribe layout lines and designs on workpieces, plates, dies, or rollers, using compasses, scribers, gravers, or pencils. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.63 | untouched |
| Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.48 | untouched |
| Brush or wipe acid over engraving to darken or highlight inscriptions. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.25 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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.