Rock Splitters, Quarry
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% 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 100% of the time, stays with people.
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.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Rock Splitters, Quarry, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
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.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
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, 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.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 9 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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 72% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 72% in a purpose-built cell. 0.72 of 3, the 251st highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 28%
- In a purpose-built cell 72%
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remove pieces of stone from larger masses, using jackhammers, wedges, and other tools.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Steinex automatic splitting lines (Menhir / Sherpa / CUB AUT) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 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.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, OSM Legacy quarry drilling machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 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. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut grooves along outlines, using chisels.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Monumental Labs robotic stone-carving cells (KUKA arms) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 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.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, BACA Systems Robo SawJet (KUKA KR 210 QUANTEC) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 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.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ABB Robot Charger (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 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.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sandvik DS412i / DS412iE rock bolting rig (one-bolt automation) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 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. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 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. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robotor (OR-OS) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 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 Gas14% 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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Rock Splitters, Quarry is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% 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 Rock Splitters, Quarry come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Rock Splitters, Quarry stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Remove pieces of stone from larger masses, using jackhammers, wedges, and other tools; Drill holes along outlines, using jackhammers; and Insert wedges and feathers into holes, and drive wedges with sledgehammers to split stone sections from masses. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Rock Splitters, Quarry?
- 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 Rock Splitters, Quarry?
- 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 72% of the working time. Its index is 0.72 of 3. One example: Steinex automatic splitting lines (Menhir / Sherpa / CUB AUT) for "remove pieces of stone from larger masses, using jackhammers, wedges, and other tools". 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.
This job in your state or metro area
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