Job Check
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.Mostly human for now
- 02Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.Mostly human for now
- 03Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.Mostly human for now
- 04Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.Mostly human for now
- 05Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.Mostly human for now
- 06Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools.Mostly human for now
- 07Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines.Mostly human for now
- 08Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.Mostly human for now
- 09Clean work area.Mostly human for now
- 10Lubricate workpieces with oil.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
1%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 23% 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 92% 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.
- Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
- Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
- Lubricate workpieces with oil.