Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters
In short: today's best AI models could do about 6% 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 94% of the time, stays with people.
Help brickmasons, blockmasons, stonemasons, or tile and marble setters by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include using, supplying, or holding materials or tools, and cleaning work area and equipment.
14,170 people do this job in the US. $47,550 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people37 h
Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 37 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Modify material moving, mixing, grouting, grinding, polishing, or cleaning procedures, according to installation or material requirements (about 3 h).
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.
- 6%
- 0%
- 94%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 6%. Today's estimate: 6%.
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
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 15 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0047% to 0.0022% (released February and March 2025).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0047% | 617 of 708 | 1 of 15 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0022% | 651 of 703 | 1 of 15 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 92% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 58% in a purpose-built cell, 31% in a structured facility, 4% in any setting. 1.31 of 3, the 44th highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 8%
- In a purpose-built cell 58%
- In a structured facility 31%
- In any setting 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 . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provide assistance in the preparation, installation, repair, or rebuilding of tile, brick, or stone surfaces.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Monumental bricklaying robots (Atrium software) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Locate and supply materials to masons for installation, following drawings or numbered sequences.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Seegrid Lift CR1 / Lift RS1 / Palion AMR lift trucks (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Erect scaffolding or other installation structures.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix mortar, plaster, and grout, manually or using machines, according to standard formulas.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated grout batch/colloidal plants (AMIX Systems, ChemGrout class) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Cut materials to specified sizes for installation, using power saws or tile cutters.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, OMAX / MAXIEM / OptiMAX abrasive waterjet with IntelliMAX software (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 21 min8 min to 42 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove damaged tile, brick, or mortar, and clean or prepare surfaces, using pliers, hammers, chisels, drills, wire brushes, or metal wire anchors.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Bots2ReC mobile manipulator units (Robotnik mobile bases + robotic arms with abrasive tool) (RWTH Aachen / Robotnik / Eurecat consortium) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Apply grout between joints of bricks or tiles, using grouting trowels.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in any setting, Fabrica AI autonomous tile grouting robot (V5) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Modify material moving, mixing, grouting, grinding, polishing, or cleaning procedures, according to installation or material requirements.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Fabrica AI (Fabrica Robotics) tile grouting robot, V5 (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Clean installation surfaces, equipment, tools, work sites, or storage areas, using water, chemical solutions, oxygen lances, or polishing machines.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Vollert pallet/formwork cleaner (Oschatz precast plant carousel line) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Arrange or store materials, machines, tools, or equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Palion Lift AMR (Seegrid) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove excess grout or residue from tile or brick joints, using sponges or trowels.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Fabrica AI grouting robot (V5) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Transport materials, tools, or machines to installation sites, manually or using conveyance equipment.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Seegrid RS1 lift truck / pallet truck / tow tractor AMRs (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 29 min13 min to 1.3 h | 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.
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons8% now, 8% by 2028
- Helpers--Carpenters0% now, 0% by 2028
- Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons0% now, 0% by 2028
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters0% now, 0% by 2028
- Tile and Stone Setters4% now, 4% 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 Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 6% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 6% 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 Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters 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: Modify material moving, mixing, grouting, grinding, polishing, or cleaning procedures, according to installation or material requirements (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Provide assistance in the preparation, installation, repair, or rebuilding of tile, brick, or stone surfaces; Locate and supply materials to masons for installation, following drawings or numbered sequences; and Erect scaffolding or other installation structures. Together such tasks are about 94% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters?
- 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 Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 100% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 92% of the working time, 4% in any setting. Its index is 1.31 of 3. One example: Fabrica AI autonomous tile grouting robot (V5) for "apply grout between joints of bricks or tiles, using grouting trowels". 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 15 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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