Rock Splitters, Quarry
Separate blocks of rough dimension stone from quarry mass using jackhammers, wedges, or chop saws.
3,320 people do this job in the US. $48,740 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 9 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remove pieces of stone from larger masses, using jackhammers, wedges, and other tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 31% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Drill holes along outlines, using jackhammers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 17% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Insert wedges and feathers into holes, and drive wedges with sledgehammers to split stone sections from masses.Done daily by most who do it. | 13% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut grooves along outlines, using chisels.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut slabs of stone into sheets that will be used for floors or counters.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Set charges of explosives to split rock.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Drill holes into sides of stones broken from masses, insert dogs or attach slings, and direct removal of stones.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 42 min17 min to 1.4 h | Stays with people | |
| Locate grain line patterns to determine how rocks will split when cut.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Mark dimensions or outlines on stone prior to cutting, using rules and chalk lines.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 21 min8 min to 38 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.
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing5% now, 5% by 2028
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas5% now, 5% by 2028
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood8% now, 8% by 2028
- Cutters and Trimmers, Hand5% now, 5% by 2028
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas11% now, 14% 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).