Job Check
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend grinding and related tools that remove excess material or burrs from surfaces, sharpen edges or corners, or buff, hone, or polish metal or plastic work pieces.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Measure workpieces and lay out work, using precision measuring devices.Mostly human for now
- 02Inspect or measure finished workpieces to determine conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as gauges or micrometers.Mostly human for now
- 03Set and adjust machine controls according to product specifications, using knowledge of machine operation.Mostly human for now
- 04Observe machine operations to detect any problems, making necessary adjustments to correct problems.Mostly human for now
- 05Activate machine start-up switches to grind, lap, hone, debar, shear, or cut workpieces, according to specifications.Mostly human for now
- 06Study blueprints, work orders, or machining instructions to determine product specifications, tool requirements, and operational sequences.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 07Lift and position workpieces, manually or with hoists, and secure them in hoppers or on machine tables, faceplates, or chucks, using clamps.Mostly human for now
- 08Move machine controls to index workpieces, and to adjust machines for pre-selected operational settings.Mostly human for now
- 09Select machine tooling to be used, using knowledge of machine and production requirements.Mostly human for now
- 10Mount and position tools in machine chucks, spindles, or other tool holding devices, using hand tools.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
7%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 32% 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 79% 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 workpieces and lay out work, using precision measuring devices.
- Inspect or measure finished workpieces to determine conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as gauges or micrometers.
- Set and adjust machine controls according to product specifications, using knowledge of machine operation.