Insulation Workers, Mechanical
In short: today's best AI models could do about 18% 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 82% of the time, stays with people.
Apply insulating materials to pipes or ductwork, or other mechanical systems in order to help control and maintain temperature.
25,660 people do this job in the US. $58,340 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on7 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people33 h
Insulation Workers, Mechanical, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 7 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 33 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Determine the amounts and types of insulation needed, and methods of installation, based on factors such as location, surface shape, and equipment use (about 4 h); Select appropriate insulation, such as fiberglass, Styrofoam, or cork, based on the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material (about 2 h); Read blueprints and specifications to determine job requirements (about 1 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.
- 18%
- 0%
- 82%
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, 16%. Today's estimate: 19%.
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 9 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: none to 0.0028% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 9 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 9 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 9 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0028% | 623 of 672 | 1 of 9 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0028% | 618 of 677 | 1 of 9 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 9 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 9 |
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 91% of this job's working time as physical work. For 36% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 36% in a purpose-built cell. 0.36 of 3, the 363rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 9%
- No robot shown 55%
- In a purpose-built cell 36%
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 . 9 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apply, remove, and repair insulation on industrial equipment, pipes, ductwork, or other mechanical systems such as heat exchangers, tanks, and vessels, to help control noise and maintain temperatures.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 27% | 2.1 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, knives, and scissors.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Lockformer Vulcan 1600 Fiberglass and Insulation Foam Waterjet Cutting System (Mestek Machinery) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Fit insulation around obstructions, and shape insulating materials and protective coverings as required.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Determine the amounts and types of insulation needed, and methods of installation, based on factors such as location, surface shape, and equipment use.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Cover, seal, or finish insulated surfaces or access holes with plastic covers, canvas strips, sealants, tape, cement, or asphalt mastic.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Allseas sheet wrapper coating system (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min21 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Install sheet metal around insulated pipes with screws to protect the insulation from weather conditions or physical damage.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.3 h33 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare surfaces for insulation application by brushing or spreading on adhesives, cement, or asphalt, or by attaching metal pins to surfaces.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VICON Automatic Duct Liner Application System (multi-head Duro Dyne/Gripnail pin spotter) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Select appropriate insulation, such as fiberglass, Styrofoam, or cork, based on the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Read blueprints and specifications to determine job requirements.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now |
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.
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 Insulation Workers, Mechanical is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 19% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 19% 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 Insulation Workers, Mechanical 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: Determine the amounts and types of insulation needed, and methods of installation, based on factors such as location, surface shape, and equipment use (100% of the task's time now); Select appropriate insulation, such as fiberglass, Styrofoam, or cork, based on the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material (100% of the task's time now); and Read blueprints and specifications to determine job requirements (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Insulation Workers, Mechanical stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Apply, remove, and repair insulation on industrial equipment, pipes, ductwork, or other mechanical systems such as heat exchangers, tanks, and vessels, to help control noise and maintain temperatures; Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, knives, and scissors; and Fit insulation around obstructions, and shape insulating materials and protective coverings as required. Together such tasks are about 82% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Insulation Workers, Mechanical?
- 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 4%. 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 Insulation Workers, Mechanical?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 91% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 36% of the working time. Its index is 0.36 of 3. One example: Lockformer Vulcan 1600 Fiberglass and Insulation Foam Waterjet Cutting System for "measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, knives, and scissors". 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 9 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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