Job Check
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend welding, soldering, or brazing machines or robots that weld, braze, solder, or heat treat metal products, components, or assemblies. Includes workers who operate laser cutters or laser-beam machines.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 02Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.Mostly human for now
- 03Record operational information on specified production reports.AI could speed this up a lot
- 04Correct problems by adjusting controls or by stopping machines and opening holding devices.Mostly human for now
- 05Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.Mostly human for now
- 06Select torch tips, alloys, flux, coil, tubing, or wire, according to metal types or thicknesses, data charts, or records.Mostly human for now
- 07Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary.Mostly human for now
- 08Prepare metal surfaces or workpieces, using hand-operated equipment, such as grinders, cutters, or drills.Mostly human for now
- 09Mark weld points and positions of components on workpieces, using rules, squares, templates, or scribes.Mostly human for now
- 10Set dials and timing controls to regulate electrical current, gas flow pressure, heating or cooling cycles, or shut-off.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 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 86% 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.
- Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.
- Correct problems by adjusting controls or by stopping machines and opening holding devices.
- Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.