Job Check
Tile and Stone Setters
Apply hard tile, stone, and comparable materials to walls, floors, ceilings, countertops, and roof decks.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Align and straighten tile using levels, squares, and straightedges.Mostly human for now
- 02Finish and dress the joints and wipe excess grout from between tiles, using damp sponge.Mostly human for now
- 03Cut and shape tile to fit around obstacles and into odd spaces and corners, using hand and power cutting tools.Mostly human for now
- 04Determine and implement the best layout to achieve a desired pattern.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Mix, apply, and spread plaster, concrete, mortar, cement, mastic, glue or other adhesives to form a bed for the tiles, using brush, trowel and screed.Mostly human for now
- 06Study blueprints and examine surface to be covered to determine amount of material needed.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 07Measure and mark surfaces to be tiled, following blueprints.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 08Lay and set mosaic tiles to create decorative wall, mural, and floor designs.Mostly human for now
- 09Apply mortar to tile back, position the tile, and press or tap with trowel handle to affix tile to base.Mostly human for now
- 10Mix and apply mortar or cement to edges and ends of drain tiles to seal halves and joints.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
9%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 19% 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 81% 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.
- Align and straighten tile using levels, squares, and straightedges.
- Finish and dress the joints and wipe excess grout from between tiles, using damp sponge.
- Cut and shape tile to fit around obstacles and into odd spaces and corners, using hand and power cutting tools.