Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
In short: today's best AI models could do about 11% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 89% of the time, stays with people.
Grind, sand, or polish, using hand tools or hand-held power tools, a variety of metal, wood, stone, clay, plastic, or glass objects. Includes chippers, buffers, and finishers.
10,510 people do this job in the US. $42,660 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on4 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people36 h
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 4 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 36 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Study blueprints or layouts to determine how to lay out workpieces or saw out templates (about 2 h); Select files or other abrasives, according to materials, sizes and shapes of workpieces, amount of stock to be removed, finishes specified, and steps in finishing processes (about 2 h); Record product and processing data on specified forms (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 11%
- 0%
- 89%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 4%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 11%. Today's estimate: 11%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 17 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 98% of this job's working time as physical work. For 98% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 94% in a purpose-built cell, 4% in a structured facility. 1.01 of 3, the 114th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 3%
- In a purpose-built cell 94%
- In a structured facility 4%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grind, sand, clean, or polish objects or parts to correct defects or to prepare surfaces for further finishing, using hand tools and power tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Kane Robotics GRIT cobot with GRIT Vision System (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| File grooved, contoured, and irregular surfaces of metal objects, such as metalworking dies and machine parts, to conform to templates, other parts, layouts, or blueprint specifications.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, PushCorp force-controlled robotic deburring EOAT (servo spindles, compliance devices) (PushCorp, Inc.) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair and maintain equipment, objects, or parts, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, FerRobotics Media Changer / Sandpaper Changing Station (with ACF/AOK sanding end-effectors) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Trim, scrape, or deburr objects or parts, using chisels, scrapers, and other hand tools and equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Flexmill robotised deburring cell (ABB robot, Renishaw RMP60 probe) at Katsa Oy (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Verify quality of finished workpieces by inspecting them, comparing them to templates, measuring their dimensions, or testing them in working machinery.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mitutoyo MiSTAR robotic measurement cell (with Engineering Data automation) at Méca-Précis (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Load and adjust workpieces onto equipment or work tables, using hand tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Figure 02 humanoid robot at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Measure and mark equipment, objects, or parts to ensure grinding and polishing standards are met.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated ultrasonic testing line with automatic paint marking system (Dura-Bond Industries) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Study blueprints or layouts to determine how to lay out workpieces or saw out templates.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Select files or other abrasives, according to materials, sizes and shapes of workpieces, amount of stock to be removed, finishes specified, and steps in finishing processes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, GrayMatter Robotics GMR-AI robotic grinding/sanding cell (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Sharpen abrasive grinding tools, using machines and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ANCA AutoStick in-process wheel conditioning system (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min8 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Mark defects, such as knotholes, cracks, and splits, for repair.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, WoodEye scanner (MiCROTEC) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 7 min2 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove completed workpieces from equipment or work tables, using hand tools, and place workpieces in containers.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Figure 02 humanoid (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 8 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic10% now, 10% by 2028
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners6% now, 6% by 2028
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing9% now, 9% by 2028
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic0% now, 0% by 2028
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic6% now, 6% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 11% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 11% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Study blueprints or layouts to determine how to lay out workpieces or saw out templates (100% of the task's time now); Select files or other abrasives, according to materials, sizes and shapes of workpieces, amount of stock to be removed, finishes specified, and steps in finishing processes (100% of the task's time now); and Record product and processing data on specified forms (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Grind, sand, clean, or polish objects or parts to correct defects or to prepare surfaces for further finishing, using hand tools and power tools; File grooved, contoured, and irregular surfaces of metal objects, such as metalworking dies and machine parts, to conform to templates, other parts, layouts, or blueprint specifications; and Repair and maintain equipment, objects, or parts, using hand tools. Together such tasks are about 89% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 98% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 98% of the working time, 4% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.01 of 3. One example: MiR600 AMR (Mobile Industrial Robots), integrated by Robotic Solutions LLC for "transfer equipment, objects, or parts to specified work areas, using moving devices". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 17 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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