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 19 out of 100 it sits close to the Manufacturing average of 19. Across the 5 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 6 to 54, 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 5 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 · 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)
• 04GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
• 05AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

Published research puts Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders at 19 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the lower risk band. The number is a weighted consensus of 5 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?

Only partly. Individual estimates for Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders run from 6 to 54 out of 100 across the 5 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 Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders by score are Biomass Plant Technicians (19/100), Chemical Plant and System Operators (19/100), and Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (19/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

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

More manufacturing occupations

• Biomass Plant Technicians19/100
• Chemical Plant and System Operators19/100
• Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders19/100
• Cutters and Trimmers, Hand19/100
• Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders19/100
• Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders19/100
• Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic19/100
• Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic19/100