Will AI replace Patternmakers, Wood?

What this score means

Patternmakers, Wood 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 19 out of 100 it scores 5 points above the Manufacturing average of 14. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 5 to 28, 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 Patternmakers, Wood, most central first, showing 12 of 20.

• 01Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
• 02Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, and screws.
• 03Lay out patterns on wood stock and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products, based on blueprint specifications and sketches, and using marking and measuring devices.
• 04Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
• 05Divide patterns into sections according to shapes of castings to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
• 06Verify dimensions of completed patterns, using templates, straightedges, calipers, or protractors.
• 07Correct patterns to compensate for defects in castings.
• 08Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and lathes to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
• 09Finish completed products or models with shellac, lacquer, wax, or paint.
• 10Estimate costs for patternmaking jobs.
• 11Mark identifying information such as colors or codes on patterns, parts, and templates to indicate assembly methods.
• 12Repair broken or damaged patterns.

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 Patternmakers, Wood 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

Forms Builder · Mold Forms Builder · Mold Maker · Pattern Engineer · Pattern Maker · Pattern Worker · Patternmaker · Production Patternmaker and related titles

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