Will AI replace Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

What this score means

Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 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 11 out of 100 it scores 3 points below the Manufacturing average of 14. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 6 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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, most central first, showing 12 of 29.

• 01Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.
• 02Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.
• 03Record operational information on specified production reports.
• 04Correct problems by adjusting controls or by stopping machines and opening holding devices.
• 05Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.
• 06Select torch tips, alloys, flux, coil, tubing, or wire, according to metal types or thicknesses, data charts, or records.
• 07Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary.
• 08Prepare metal surfaces or workpieces, using hand-operated equipment, such as grinders, cutters, or drills.
• 09Mark weld points and positions of components on workpieces, using rules, squares, templates, or scribes.
• 10Set dials and timing controls to regulate electrical current, gas flow pressure, heating or cooling cycles, or shut-off.
• 11Turn and press knobs and buttons or enter operating instructions into computers to adjust and start welding machines.
• 12Assemble, align, and clamp workpieces into holding fixtures to bond, heat-treat, or solder fabricated metal components.

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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 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

Aluminum Welder · Arc Welding Machine Operator · Arc and Gas Welder · Billet Assembler · Braze Operator · Brazing Machine Operator · Brazing Machine Setter · Brazing Machine Setter Operator and related titles

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