Will AI replace Gem and Diamond Workers?

What this score means

Gem and Diamond Workers is among the least exposed roles in Manufacturing. Most of what the job involves still sits outside what current AI can do, even as the tools around it keep changing. At 17 out of 100 it scores 3 points above the Manufacturing average of 14. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 14 to 20, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Gem and Diamond Workers, most central first, showing 12 of 14.

• 01Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs.
• 02Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems.
• 03Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors.
• 04Examine gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments, to differentiate between stones, to identify rare specimens, or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values.
• 05Identify and document stones' clarity characteristics, using plot diagrams.
• 06Advise customers and others on the best use of gems to create attractive jewelry items.
• 07Examine diamonds or gems to ascertain the shape, cut, and width of cut stones, or to select the cuts that will result in the biggest, best quality stones.
• 08Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes.
• 09Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them.
• 10Sort rough diamonds into categories based on shape, size, color, and quality.
• 11Secure gems or diamonds in holders, chucks, dops, lapidary sticks, or blocks for cutting, polishing, grinding, drilling, or shaping.
• 12Measure sizes of stones' bore holes and cuts to ensure adherence to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 3 research sources that scored Gem and Diamond Workers for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026
• 02GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024
• 03AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023

Also covers

Brilliandeer · Brilliandeer Lopper · Clarity Expert · Diamond Assorter · Diamond Cleaner · Diamond Cleaver · Diamond Cutter · Diamond Die Driller and related titles

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