AI exposure: Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend grinding and related tools that remove excess material or burrs from surfaces, sharpen edges or corners, or buff, hone, or polish metal or plastic work pieces.
Reading this score
computedAt 16.4% of weighted task load, Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic sits at the 27th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 74.0% 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 18 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 Compute machine indexings and settings for specified dimensions and base reference points, at 55.0%. The least is Thread and hand-feed materials through machine cutters or abraders, at 0.0%. A gap of 55.0% 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 more exposed than most. The median across the 107 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 49 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 18 tasks, 5 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 13 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 | 1.01 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.56 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.41 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.44 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.04 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.97 | 0-3 |
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compute machine indexings and settings for specified dimensions and base reference points. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Select machine tooling to be used, using knowledge of machine and production requirements. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.18 | exposed |
| Study blueprints, work orders, or machining instructions to determine product specifications, tool requirements, and operational sequences. | 41.7% | 20.8% | 37.5% | 4.23 | exposed |
| Maintain stocks of machine parts and machining tools. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.22 | exposed |
| Observe machine operations to detect any problems, making necessary adjustments to correct problems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.29 | exposed |
| Brush or spray lubricating compounds on workpieces, or turn valve handles and direct flow of coolant against tools and workpieces. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Set and adjust machine controls according to product specifications, using knowledge of machine operation. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Move machine controls to index workpieces, and to adjust machines for pre-selected operational settings. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Set up, operate, or tend grinding and related tools that remove excess material or burrs from surfaces, sharpen edges or corners, or buff, hone, or polish metal or plastic workpieces. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Repair or replace machine parts, using hand tools, or notify engineering personnel when corrective action is required. | 13.9% | 11.1% | 75.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Activate machine start-up switches to grind, lap, hone, debar, shear, or cut workpieces, according to specifications. | 10.0% | 6.7% | 83.3% | 4.24 | untouched |
| Measure workpieces and lay out work, using precision measuring devices. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.46 | untouched |
| Inspect or measure finished workpieces to determine conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as gauges or micrometers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Lift and position workpieces, manually or with hoists, and secure them in hoppers or on machine tables, faceplates, or chucks, using clamps. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Mount and position tools in machine chucks, spindles, or other tool holding devices, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.16 | untouched |
| Adjust air cylinders and setting stops to set traverse lengths and feed arm strokes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Slide spacers between buffs on spindles to set spacing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.97 | untouched |
| Thread and hand-feed materials through machine cutters or abraders. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.81 | 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.