Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
In short: today's best AI models could do about 22% 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 78% of the time, stays with people.
Set up and operate machines, such as lathes, milling and engraving machines, and jig borers to make working models of metal or plastic objects. Includes template makers.
2,610 people do this job in the US. $63,340 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on9 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people31 h
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 9 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 31 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Program computer numerical control (CNC) machines to fabricate model parts (about 5 h); Study blueprints, drawings, and sketches to determine material dimensions, required equipment, and operations sequences (about 3 h); Record specifications, production operations, and final dimensions of models for use in establishing operating standards and procedures (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.
- 22%
- 1%
- 77%
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: 22%.
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 16 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 78% of this job's working time as physical work. For 78% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 78% in a purpose-built cell. 0.78 of 3, the 232nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 22%
- In a purpose-built cell 78%
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 . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devise and construct tools, dies, molds, jigs, and fixtures, or modify existing tools and equipment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Protolabs automated CNC machining / automated fixturing (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Set up and operate machines, such as lathes, drill presses, punch presses, or bandsaws, to fabricate prototypes or models.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VersaBuilt Mill/Lathe Automation System with Universal Robots UR10e (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Program computer numerical control (CNC) machines to fabricate model parts.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Cut, shape, and form metal parts, using lathes, power saws, snips, power brakes and shears, files, and mallets.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Erowa / System 3R pallet-handling robots integrated with Makino EDMs and machining centers (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Use computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software or hardware to fabricate model parts.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Protolabs automated CNC machining service (ProtoQuote / proprietary CAM engine + CNC machining centers) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Study blueprints, drawings, and sketches to determine material dimensions, required equipment, and operations sequences.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect and test products to verify conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments or circuit testers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, New Scale Robotics Q-Span Automated Small-Part Measurement System (UR3e cobot + robotic calipers) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Align, fit, and join parts, using bolts and screws or by welding or gluing.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robotiq Screwdriving Workcell + Universal Robots cobot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Grind, file, and sand parts to finished dimensions.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, OB7 automated deburring and polishing cell (Productive Robotics) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Drill, countersink, and ream holes in parts and assemblies for bolts, screws, and other fasteners, using power tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Power RACe (Robot Assembly Cell) (Broetje-Automation) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Rework or alter component model or parts as required to ensure that products meet standards.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CAPPS-NC (Applied Automation Technologies) closed-loop probing on CNC machining centers (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Record specifications, production operations, and final dimensions of models for use in establishing operating standards and procedures.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 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 Model Makers, Metal and Plastic is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 22% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 22% 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 Model Makers, Metal and Plastic 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: Program computer numerical control (CNC) machines to fabricate model parts (100% of the task's time now); Study blueprints, drawings, and sketches to determine material dimensions, required equipment, and operations sequences (100% of the task's time now); and Record specifications, production operations, and final dimensions of models for use in establishing operating standards and procedures (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Model Makers, Metal and Plastic stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Devise and construct tools, dies, molds, jigs, and fixtures, or modify existing tools and equipment; Set up and operate machines, such as lathes, drill presses, punch presses, or bandsaws, to fabricate prototypes or models; and Cut, shape, and form metal parts, using lathes, power saws, snips, power brakes and shears, files, and mallets. Together such tasks are about 78% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Model Makers, Metal and Plastic?
- 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 Model Makers, Metal and Plastic?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 78% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 78% of the working time. Its index is 0.78 of 3. One example: Protolabs automated CNC machining / automated fixturing for "devise and construct tools, dies, molds, jigs, and fixtures, or modify existing tools and equipment". 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 16 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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