AI exposure: Tile and Stone Setters
Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.
Reading this score
computedTile and Stone Setters is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 6.6% of weighted task load, rank 857 of 923. 88.7% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 25 tasks it averages 2.50 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 Assist customers in selection of tile and grout, at 66.7%. The least is Build underbeds and install anchor bolts, wires, and brackets, at 0.0%. A gap of 66.7% 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 construction and extraction occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 61 roles in the group is 5.0%, and only 26 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 25 tasks, 4 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 20 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 | 0.58 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.50 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.10 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.45 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.05 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.07 | 0-3 |
Task by task
25 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assist customers in selection of tile and grout. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.97 | exposed |
| Prepare cost and labor estimates, based on calculations of time and materials needed for project. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.93 | exposed |
| Select and order tile and other items to be installed, such as bathroom accessories, walls, panels, and cabinets, according to specifications. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Study blueprints and examine surface to be covered to determine amount of material needed. | 41.7% | 20.8% | 37.5% | 4.36 | exposed |
| Determine and implement the best layout to achieve a desired pattern. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.43 | assisted |
| Align and straighten tile using levels, squares, and straightedges. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.67 | untouched |
| Finish and dress the joints and wipe excess grout from between tiles, using damp sponge. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.49 | untouched |
| Cut and shape tile to fit around obstacles and into odd spaces and corners, using hand and power cutting tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Mix, apply, and spread plaster, concrete, mortar, cement, mastic, glue or other adhesives to form a bed for the tiles, using brush, trowel and screed. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.42 | untouched |
| Measure and mark surfaces to be tiled, following blueprints. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Lay and set mosaic tiles to create decorative wall, mural, and floor designs. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Apply mortar to tile back, position the tile, and press or tap with trowel handle to affix tile to base. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.27 | untouched |
| Mix and apply mortar or cement to edges and ends of drain tiles to seal halves and joints. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.16 | untouched |
| Apply a sealer to make grout stain- and water-resistant. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Level concrete and allow to dry. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.09 | untouched |
| Measure and cut metal lath to size for walls and ceilings, using tin snips. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.06 | untouched |
| Install and anchor fixtures in designated positions, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Prepare surfaces for tiling by attaching lath or waterproof paper, or by applying a cement mortar coat to a metal screen. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Remove and replace cracked or damaged tile. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Cut tile backing to required size, using shears. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Remove any old tile, grout and adhesive using chisels and scrapers and clean the surface carefully. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Cut, surface, polish, and install marble and granite or install pre-cast terrazzo, granite or marble units. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.81 | untouched |
| Spread mastic or other adhesive base on roof deck to form base for promenade tile, using serrated spreader. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.99 | untouched |
| Brush glue onto manila paper on which design has been drawn and position tiles, finished side down, onto paper. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Build underbeds and install anchor bolts, wires, and brackets. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.18 | 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.