AI exposure: Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
Reading this score
computedAt 12.6% of weighted task load, Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic sits at the 20th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 79.9% 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 29 tasks it averages 2.67 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 Inventory and record quantities of materials and finished products, requisitioning additional..., at 50.0%. The least is Skim or pour dross, slag, or impurities from molten metal, at 0.0%. A gap of 50.0% 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 66 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 29 tasks, 7 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 22 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 | 0.72 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.67 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.22 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.38 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.91 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.89 | 0-3 |
Task by task
29 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory and record quantities of materials and finished products, requisitioning additional supplies as necessary. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.69 | exposed |
| Observe meters and gauges to verify and record temperatures, pressures, and press-cycle times. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.01 | exposed |
| Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Select coolants and lubricants, and start their flow. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.68 | exposed |
| Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.38 | exposed |
| Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.09 | exposed |
| Maintain inventories of materials. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.66 | exposed |
| Select and install blades, tools, or other attachments for each operation. | 25.0% | 12.5% | 62.5% | 3.69 | untouched |
| Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.28 | untouched |
| Preheat tools, dies, plastic materials, or patterns, using blowtorches or other equipment. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.56 | untouched |
| Trim excess material from parts, using knives, and grind scrap plastic into powder for reuse. | 8.8% | 3.8% | 87.5% | 3.64 | untouched |
| Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments. | 7.5% | 5.0% | 87.5% | 4.49 | untouched |
| Perform maintenance work such as cleaning and oiling machines. | 4.8% | 3.5% | 91.7% | 3.74 | untouched |
| Connect water hoses to cooling systems of dies, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Remove parts, such as dies, from machines after production runs are finished. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Smooth and clean inner surfaces of molds, using brushes, scrapers, air hoses, or grinding wheels, and fill imperfections with refractory material. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.63 | untouched |
| Operate hoists to position dies or patterns on foundry floors. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Cool products after processing to prevent distortion. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.88 | untouched |
| Install dies onto machines or presses and coat dies with parting agents, according to work order specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.83 | untouched |
| Unload finished products from conveyor belts, pack them in containers, and place containers in warehouses. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.75 | untouched |
| Remove finished or cured products from dies or molds, using hand tools, air hoses, and other equipment, stamping identifying information on products when necessary. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Obtain and move specified patterns to work stations, manually or using hoists, and secure patterns to machines, using wrenches. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Repair or replace damaged molds, pipes, belts, chains, or other equipment, using hand tools, hand-powered presses, or jib cranes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.69 | untouched |
| Adjust equipment and workpiece holding fixtures, such as mold frames, tubs, and cutting tables, to ensure proper functioning. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.67 | untouched |
| Position and secure workpieces on machines, and start feeding mechanisms. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.65 | untouched |
| Mix and measure compounds, or weigh premixed compounds, and dump them into machine tubs, cavities, or molds. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.62 | untouched |
| Spray, smoke, or coat molds with compounds to lubricate or insulate molds, using acetylene torches or sprayers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.59 | untouched |
| Pour or load metal or sand into melting pots, furnaces, molds, or hoppers, using shovels, ladles, or machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.40 | untouched |
| Skim or pour dross, slag, or impurities from molten metal, using ladles, rakes, hoes, spatulas, or spoons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.15 | 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.