Job Check
Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
Smooth and finish surfaces of poured concrete, such as floors, walks, sidewalks, roads, or curbs using a variety of hand and power tools. Align forms for sidewalks, curbs, or gutters; patch voids; and use saws to cut expansion joints.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.Mostly human for now
- 02Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.Mostly human for now
- 03Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float.Mostly human for now
- 04Monitor how the wind, heat, or cold affect the curing of the concrete throughout the entire process.Mostly human for now
- 05Mold expansion joints and edges, using edging tools, jointers, and straightedge.Mostly human for now
- 06Signal truck driver to position truck to facilitate pouring concrete, and move chute to direct concrete on forms.Mostly human for now
- 07Direct the casting of the concrete and supervise laborers who use shovels or special tools to spread it.Mostly human for now
- 08Produce rough concrete surface, using broom.Mostly human for now
- 09Apply hardening and sealing compounds to cure surface of concrete, and waterproof or restore surface.Mostly human for now
- 10Operate power vibrator to compact concrete.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
0%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 2% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 89% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Check the forms that hold the concrete to see that they are properly constructed.
- Set the forms that hold concrete to the desired pitch and depth, and align them.
- Spread, level, and smooth concrete, using rake, shovel, hand or power trowel, hand or power screed, and float.