Job Check
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines, such as glass-forming machines, plodder machines, and tuber machines, to shape and form products such as glassware, food, rubber, soap, brick, tile, clay, wax, tobacco, or cosmetics.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Adjust machine components to regulate speeds, pressures, and temperatures, and amounts, dimensions, and flow of materials or ingredients.Mostly human for now
- 02Press control buttons to activate machinery and equipment.Mostly human for now
- 03Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as templates, micrometers, or scales.Mostly human for now
- 04Monitor machine operations and observe lights and gauges to detect malfunctions.Mostly human for now
- 05Clear jams, and remove defective or substandard materials or products.Mostly human for now
- 06Notify supervisors when extruded filaments fail to meet standards.Mostly human for now
- 07Record and maintain production data, such as meter readings, and quantities, types, and dimensions of materials produced.AI could speed this up a lot
- 08Review work orders, specifications, or instructions to determine materials, ingredients, procedures, components, settings, and adjustments for extruding, forming, pressing, or compacting machines.Mostly human for now
- 09Turn controls to adjust machine functions, such as regulating air pressure, creating vacuums, and adjusting coolant flow.Mostly human for now
- 10Clean dies, arbors, compression chambers, and molds, using swabs, sponges, or air hoses.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
8%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 21% 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 96% 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.
- Adjust machine components to regulate speeds, pressures, and temperatures, and amounts, dimensions, and flow of materials or ingredients.
- Press control buttons to activate machinery and equipment.
- Examine, measure, and weigh materials or products to verify conformance to standards, using measuring devices such as templates, micrometers, or scales.