The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 51-7031.00 · Job Zone 3

AI exposure: Model Makers, Wood

Construct full-size and scale wooden precision models of products. Includes wood jig builders and loft workers.

Reading this score

computed

At 13.0% of weighted task load, Model Makers, Wood sits at the 21th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 81.2% 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 14 tasks it averages 2.57 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 Maintain pattern records for reference, at 73.3%. The least is Finish patterns or models with protective or decorative coatings such as shellac, lacquer, or..., 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 less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 65 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 14 tasks, 2 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 12 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

judged

Every 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.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability0.750-4
Embodiment2.570-3
Presence0.180-3
Accountability0.210-3
Context0.930-3
Verification cost0.820-3

Task by task

14 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Maintain pattern records for reference.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.82exposed
Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications, and consult with designers to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.43.8%18.8%37.5%4.48exposed
Select wooden stock, determine layouts, and mark layouts of parts on stock, using precision equipment such as scribers, squares, and protractors.25.0%12.5%62.5%4.08untouched
Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and planers to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.23.8%13.8%62.5%3.91untouched
Fabricate work aids such as scrapers or templates.16.7%8.3%75.0%3.51untouched
Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, screws, and other fasteners.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.22untouched
Verify dimensions and contours of models during hand-forming processes, using templates and measuring devices.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.16untouched
Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.14untouched
Plan, lay out, and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.12untouched
Construct wooden models, patterns, templates, full scale mock-ups, and molds for parts of products and production tools.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.12untouched
Mark identifying information on patterns, parts, and templates to indicate assembly methods and details.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.07untouched
Build jigs that can be used as guides for assembling oversized or special types of box shooks.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.72untouched
Issue patterns to designated machine operators.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.63untouched
Finish patterns or models with protective or decorative coatings such as shellac, lacquer, or wax.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.35untouched

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.