40/100
ModerateHow much of this occupation’s work can be materially affected by current AI systems.
39/100
LowHow likely exposure is to translate into reduced human demand.
Includes provisional estimates for AI adoption pressure and labour-market resilience. How this is measured
Confidence reflects task coverage, mapping and capability-evidence quality, and how much of the score rests on provisional inputs.
Task-level evidence
What is driving the score?
Occupation scores are built from the task mix—not a single prediction about a job title.
TaskImportanceAI impactExposure
Set up, program, operate, or tend computerized or manual woodworking machines, such as drill presses, lathes, shapers, routers, sanders, planers, or wood-nailing machines.High64
Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.High67
Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.High68
Secure woodstock against a guide or in a holding device, place woodstock on a conveyor, or dump woodstock in a hopper to feed woodstock into machines.High66
Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.Medium67
Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.High67
Set up, program, or control computer-aided design (CAD) or computer numerical control (CNC) machines.Medium67
Monitor operation of machines and make adjustments to correct problems and ensure conformance to specifications.High37
Examine raw woodstock for defects and to ensure conformity to size and other specification standards.High32
Examine finished workpieces for smoothness, shape, angle, depth-of-cut, or conformity to specifications and verify dimensions, visually and using hands, rules, calipers, templates, or gauges.High29
Inspect pulleys, drive belts, guards, or fences on machines to ensure that machines will operate safely.High38
Inspect and mark completed workpieces and stack them on pallets, in boxes, or on conveyors so that they can be moved to the next workstation.High30
Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.High23
Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.High23
Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.High23
Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.High23
Install and adjust blades, cutterheads, boring-bits, or sanding-belts, using hand tools and rules.High22
Remove and replace worn parts, bits, belts, sandpaper, or shaping tools.High24
Start machines and move levers to engage hydraulic lifts that press woodstocks into desired forms and disengage lifts after appropriate drying times.Medium24
Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.High17
Where AI can do more
Routine, digitized, and highly repeatable tasks face the greatest pressure.
- Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders.68
- Feed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components.67
- Trim wood parts according to specifications, using planes, chisels, or wood files or sanders.67
- Attach and adjust guides, stops, clamps, chucks, or feed mechanisms, using hand tools.67
Where people still matter
These tasks score lowest on automation feasibility—physical presence, judgement, accountability and real-world variability all resist end-to-end automation.
- Push or hold workpieces against, under, or through cutting, boring, or shaping mechanisms.01
- Start machines, adjust controls, and make trial cuts to ensure that machinery is operating properly.02
- Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.03
- Change alignment and adjustment of sanding, cutting, or boring machine guides to prevent defects in finished products, using hand tools.04
- Select knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits, or belts, according to workpiece, machine functions, or product specifications.05
Where else this work leads
Related occupations
Occupations O*NET links to this one. Relatedness reflects shared work, not a claim that these roles are safer.
Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Closely related work
Compare these careers →Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Closely related work
Compare these careers →Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Closely related work
Compare these careers →Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Closely related work
Compare these careers →Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Related work
Compare these careers →Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Related work
Compare these careers →Beyond AI capability
Adoption and labour-market outlook
Structural factors are kept separate from raw capability so you can see what actually resists automation. Adoption pressure and labour-market resilience are still provisional models—25% of this occupation’s replacement-risk weight rests on them.
Methodology & sources
O*NET 30.3 occupational data interpreted through the JobsVsAI capability, automation and structural-constraint models.
Confidence81/100
CalculatedAug 21, 2026
Read methodology →