AI exposure: Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
Tend, control, or operate power-driven, stationary, or portable pumps and manifold systems to transfer gases, oil, other liquids, slurries, or powdered materials to and from various vessels and processes.
Reading this score
computedAt 28.4% of weighted task load, Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers sits at the 51th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 57.1% 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 2.11 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 operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and..., at 73.3%. The least is Collect and deliver sample solutions for laboratory analysis, 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 transportation and material moving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 52 roles in the group is 24.2%, and only 19 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 14 tasks, 8 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 6 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 | 1.64 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.11 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.50 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.61 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.04 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.93 | 0-3 |
Task by task
14 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record operating data such as products and quantities pumped, stocks used, gauging results, and operating times. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.41 | exposed |
| Read operating schedules or instructions or receive verbal orders to determine amounts to be pumped. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Plan movement of products through lines to processing, storage, and shipping units, using knowledge of interconnections and capacities of pipelines, valve manifolds, pumps, and tankage. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.41 | exposed |
| Monitor gauges and flowmeters and inspect equipment to ensure that tank levels, temperatures, chemical amounts, and pressures are at specified levels, reporting abnormalities as necessary. | 37.5% | 25.0% | 37.5% | 4.48 | exposed |
| Turn valves and start pumps to start or regulate flows of substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.35 | exposed |
| Pump two or more materials into one tank to blend mixtures. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.92 | exposed |
| Tend auxiliary equipment such as water treatment and refrigeration units, and heat exchangers. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.98 | exposed |
| Communicate with other workers, using signals, radios, or telephones, to start and stop flows of materials or substances. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.35 | exposed |
| Tend vessels that store substances such as gases, liquids, slurries, or powdered materials, checking levels of substances by using calibrated rods or by reading mercury gauges and tank charts. | 26.2% | 11.2% | 62.5% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Test materials and solutions, using testing equipment. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.84 | untouched |
| Connect hoses and pipelines to pumps and vessels prior to material transfer, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Add chemicals and solutions to tanks to ensure that specifications are met. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Collect and deliver sample solutions for laboratory analysis. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | 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.