AI exposure: Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers
Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form continuous filaments from synthetic materials, such as liquid polymer, rayon, and fiberglass.
Reading this score
computedAt 21.6% of weighted task load, Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers sits at the 40th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 67.0% 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 17 tasks it averages 2.56 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 Record details of machine malfunctions, at 73.3%. The least is Open cabinet doors to cut multifilament threadlines away from guides, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% 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 production occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 107 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 20 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 17 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 11 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 | 1.18 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.56 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.35 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.44 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.03 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.91 | 0-3 |
Task by task
17 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record details of machine malfunctions. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.84 | exposed |
| Record operational data on tags, and attach tags to machines. | 35.0% | 15.0% | 50.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Observe flow of finish across finish rollers, and turn valves to adjust flow to specifications. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Press metering-pump buttons and turn valves to stop flow of polymers. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.94 | exposed |
| Observe machine operations, control boards, and gauges to detect malfunctions such as clogged bushings and defective binder applicators. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Start metering pumps and observe operation of machines and equipment to ensure continuous flow of filaments extruded through spinnerettes and to detect processing defects. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.91 | exposed |
| Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines. | 20.0% | 17.5% | 62.5% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Load materials into extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and adjust feed mechanisms to set feed rates. | 17.5% | 7.5% | 75.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form filaments from synthetic materials such as rayon, fiberglass, or liquid polymers. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.27 | untouched |
| Press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions are detected. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.26 | untouched |
| Move controls to activate and adjust extruding and forming machines. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.92 | untouched |
| Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools. | 6.7% | 5.8% | 87.5% | 3.69 | untouched |
| Remove polymer deposits from spinnerettes and equipment, using silicone spray, brass chisels, and bronze-wool pads. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.04 | untouched |
| Remove excess, entangled, or completed filaments from machines, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Wipe finish rollers with cloths and wash finish trays with water when necessary. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.82 | untouched |
| Lower pans inside cabinets to catch molten filaments until flow of polymer through packs has stopped. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.63 | untouched |
| Open cabinet doors to cut multifilament threadlines away from guides, using scissors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.28 | 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.