Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing
In short: today's best AI models could do about 5% 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 95% of the time, stays with people.
Cut or carve stone according to diagrams and patterns.
$46,170 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on2 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people38 h
Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 2 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 38 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Study artistic objects or graphic materials, such as models, sketches, or blueprints, to plan carving or cutting techniques (about 1 h); Select chisels, pneumatic or surfacing tools, or sandblasting nozzles, and determine sequence of use (under an hour).
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.
- 5%
- 0%
- 95%
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, 5%. Today's estimate: 5%.
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 14 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0045% to 0.0026% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0045% | 545 of 655 | 1 of 14 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0018% | 658 of 672 | 1 of 14 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0026% | 627 of 677 | 1 of 14 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
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 95% of this job's working time as physical work. For 95% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 95% in a purpose-built cell. 0.95 of 3, the 148th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 5%
- In a purpose-built cell 95%
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 . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cut, shape, and finish rough blocks of building or monumental stone, according to diagrams or patterns.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Pellegrini CNC diamond wire profile saw at Baston Monuments, Inc. (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Carve designs or figures in full or bas relief on stone, employing knowledge of stone carving techniques and sense of artistry to produce carvings consistent with designers' plans.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CNC AUTOBLASTER automatic sandblast system (Rayzist Photomask) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | Stays with people | |
| Drill holes and cut or carve moldings and grooves in stone, according to diagrams and patterns.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Park Industries SPARTAN CNC router (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 2.1 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Shape, trim, or touch up roughed-out designs with appropriate tools to finish carvings.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, STS1325H CNC stone machine for headstones (STYLECNC) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Guide nozzles over stone, following stencil outlines, or chip along marks to create designs or to work surfaces down to specified finishes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ABRA AUTOBLASTER CNC (automatic sandblasting system) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.7 h17 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Carve rough designs freehand or by chipping along marks on stone, using mallets and chisels or pneumatic tools.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Monumental Labs robotic stone carving cells (7-axis KUKA arms with diamond mill bits) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Remove or add stencils during blasting to create differing cut depths, intricate designs, or rough, pitted finishes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CNC AutoBlaster AUTOB-25 (ABRA / ProBlast / Rayzist) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.1 h17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Lay out designs or dimensions from sketches or blueprints on stone surfaces, freehand or by transferring them from tracing paper, using scribes or chalk and measuring instruments.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SABERjet XP CNC Sawjet with Pathfinder photo station / Slabsmith (Park Industries) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Verify depths and dimensions of cuts or carvings to ensure adherence to specifications, blueprints, or models, using measuring instruments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZEISS ScanBox (ATOS sensor on robot module) (Carl Zeiss / GOM) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Study artistic objects or graphic materials, such as models, sketches, or blueprints, to plan carving or cutting techniques.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Load sandblasting equipment with abrasives, attach nozzles to hoses, and turn valves to admit compressed air and activate jets.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Blastman B16XS wall-type blast cleaning robots with BP1100 blast pot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Smooth surfaces of carvings, using rubbing stones.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Thibaut T958 5-axis shaping and polishing centre (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 1.1 h17 min to 2.5 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.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 5% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 5% 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 Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing 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: Study artistic objects or graphic materials, such as models, sketches, or blueprints, to plan carving or cutting techniques (100% of the task's time now); and Select chisels, pneumatic or surfacing tools, or sandblasting nozzles, and determine sequence of use (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Cut, shape, and finish rough blocks of building or monumental stone, according to diagrams or patterns; Carve designs or figures in full or bas relief on stone, employing knowledge of stone carving techniques and sense of artistry to produce carvings consistent with designers' plans; and Drill holes and cut or carve moldings and grooves in stone, according to diagrams and patterns. Together such tasks are about 95% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing?
- 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 Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 95% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 95% of the working time. Its index is 0.95 of 3. One example: Pellegrini CNC diamond wire profile saw at Baston Monuments, Inc. for "cut, shape, and finish rough blocks of building or monumental stone, according to diagrams or patterns". 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 14 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
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.