Will AI replace Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

What this score means

Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 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 21 out of 100 it sits close to the Manufacturing average of 19. Across the 7 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 51, 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 Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, most central first, showing 12 of 29.

• 01Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
• 02Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.
• 03Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
• 04Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times.
• 05Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences.
• 06Observe meters and gauges to verify and record temperatures, pressures, and press-cycle times.
• 07Connect water hoses to cooling systems of dies, using hand tools.
• 08Remove parts, such as dies, from machines after production runs are finished.
• 09Perform maintenance work such as cleaning and oiling machines.
• 10Smooth and clean inner surfaces of molds, using brushes, scrapers, air hoses, or grinding wheels, and fill imperfections with refractory material.
• 11Operate hoists to position dies or patterns on foundry floors.
• 12Cool products after processing to prevent distortion.

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 7 research sources that scored Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026Anthropic
• 02Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
• 03Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations · 2025Tomlinson, Jaffe et al., Microsoft Research (2025)
• 04A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond · 2024McKinsey Global Institute (2024)
• 05GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
• 06AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)
• 07Generative AI and the Future of Work in America · 2023McKinsey Global Institute (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

Published research puts Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic at 21 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 7 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?

Only partly. Individual estimates for Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic run from 5 to 51 out of 100 across the 7 sources behind this score, so the single number smooths over real disagreement. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in it.

Which manufacturing roles face similar AI exposure?

The closest published manufacturing roles to Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic by score are Butchers and Meat Cutters (21/100), Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders (21/100), and Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (21/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

Aluminum Molder · Aluminum Molding Machine Operator · Automatic Casting Machine Operator · Babbitt Spinner · Babbitter · Bench Molder · Bender Machine Operator · Bit Bender and related titles

More manufacturing occupations

• Butchers and Meat Cutters21/100
• Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders21/100
• Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic21/100
• Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic21/100
• Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders21/100
• Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing21/100
• Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders20/100
• Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20/100