Job Check
Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
Build or repair equipment such as furnaces, kilns, cupolas, boilers, converters, ladles, soaking pits, and ovens, using refractory materials.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Reline or repair ladles and pouring spouts with refractory clay, using trowels.Mostly human for now
- 02Chip slag from linings of ladles or remove linings when beyond repair, using hammers and chisels.Mostly human for now
- 03Mix specified amounts of sand, clay, mortar powder, and water to form refractory clay or mortar, using shovels or mixing machines.Mostly human for now
- 04Measure furnace walls to determine dimensions and cut required number of sheets from plastic block, using saws.Mostly human for now
- 05Dry and bake new linings by placing inverted linings over burners, building fires in ladles, or by using blowtorches.Mostly human for now
- 06Remove worn or damaged plastic block refractory linings of furnaces, using hand tools.Mostly human for now
- 07Climb scaffolding, carrying hoses, and spray surfaces of cupolas with refractory mixtures, using spray equipment.Mostly human for now
- 08Spread mortar on stopper heads and rods, using trowels, and slide brick sleeves over rods to form refractory jackets.Mostly human for now
- 09Dump and tamp clay in molds, using tamping tools.Mostly human for now
- 10Transfer clay structures to curing ovens, melting tanks, and drawing kilns, using forklifts.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 28% 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 78% 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 furnace walls to determine dimensions and cut required number of sheets from plastic block, using saws.
- Reline or repair ladles and pouring spouts with refractory clay, using trowels.
- Dry and bake new linings by placing inverted linings over burners, building fires in ladles, or by using blowtorches.