AI exposure: Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
Perform precision smoothing, sharpening, polishing, or grinding of metal objects.
Reading this score
computedAt 11.7% of weighted task load, Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners sits at the 18th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 81.5% 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 2.67 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 Compute numbers, widths, and angles of cutting tools, micrometers, scales, and gauges, and..., at 43.8%. The least is Duplicate workpiece contours, at 0.0%. A gap of 43.8% 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 71 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 18 tasks, 3 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 15 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 | 0.66 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.67 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.21 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.34 | 0-3 |
| Context | 0.99 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.92 | 0-3 |
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compute numbers, widths, and angles of cutting tools, micrometers, scales, and gauges, and adjust tools to produce specified cuts. | 43.8% | 18.8% | 37.5% | 3.63 | exposed |
| Turn valves to direct flow of coolant against cutting wheels and workpieces during grinding. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.18 | exposed |
| Study blueprints or layouts of metal workpieces to determine grinding procedures, and to plan machine setups and operational sequences. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Select and mount grinding wheels on machines, according to specifications, using hand tools and applying knowledge of abrasives and grinding procedures. | 25.0% | 12.5% | 62.5% | 4.48 | untouched |
| Monitor machine operations to determine whether adjustments are necessary, stopping machines when problems occur. | 21.2% | 16.2% | 62.5% | 4.50 | untouched |
| Set up and operate grinding or polishing machines to grind metal workpieces, such as dies, parts, and tools. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Place workpieces in electroplating solutions or apply pigments to surfaces of workpieces to highlight ridges and grooves. | 8.8% | 3.8% | 87.5% | 3.48 | untouched |
| Inspect, feel, and measure workpieces to ensure that surfaces and dimensions meet specifications. | 7.9% | 4.6% | 87.5% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Perform basic maintenance, such as cleaning and lubricating machine parts. | 4.8% | 3.5% | 91.7% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Remove finished workpieces from machines and place them in boxes or on racks, setting aside pieces that are defective. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Dress grinding wheels, according to specifications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Remove and replace worn or broken machine parts, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.03 | untouched |
| Fit parts together in pre-assembly to ensure that dimensions are accurate. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.97 | untouched |
| File or finish surfaces of workpieces, using prescribed hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.81 | untouched |
| Inspect dies to detect defects, assess wear, and verify specifications, using micrometers, steel gauge pins, and loupes. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.70 | untouched |
| Attach workpieces to grinding machines and form specified sections and repair cracks, using welding or brazing equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.55 | untouched |
| Straighten workpieces and remove dents, using straightening presses and hammers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.51 | untouched |
| Duplicate workpiece contours, using tracer attachments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | – | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean. 1 task(s) lacked a usable O*NET weight and are shown but excluded from the weighting.
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.