Stonemasons
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.
Build stone structures, such as piers, walls, and abutments. Lay walks, curbstones, or special types of masonry for vats, tanks, and floors.
7,820 people do this job in the US. $57,390 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
Stonemasons, 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 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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 84% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 47% in a purpose-built cell, 37% in a structured facility. 1.20 of 3, the 57th highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 16%
- In a purpose-built cell 47%
- In a structured facility 37%
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lay brick to build shells of chimneys and smokestacks or to line or reline industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, EUREKA converter refractory-lining bricklaying system (SCARA robot on internal platform) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 22% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Shape, trim, face and cut marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, BACA Systems Autocut Line (Robo SawJet + Robo Lift, KUKA robots) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 19% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Monumental autonomous bricklaying robots (Atrium platform) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Construct and install prefabricated masonry units.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RoboBrick (Vandersanden) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Smooth, polish, and bevel surfaces, using hand tools and power tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Park Industries FASTBACK II flat-edge polisher (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove wedges, fill joints between stones, finish joints between stones, using a trowel, and smooth the mortar to an attractive finish, using a tuck pointer.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean excess mortar or grout from surface of marble, stone, or monument, using sponge, brush, water, or acid.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Bianchi Brushing Machine (spazzolatrice) for long-line tables and pallets (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Lay out wall patterns or foundations, using straight edge, rule, or staked lines.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Dusty Robotics FieldPrinter / FieldPrint Platform (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix mortar or grout and pour or spread mortar or grout on marble slabs, stone, or foundation.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Monumental bricklaying robot fleet (Pisa / Petra / Panama) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Set vertical and horizontal alignment of structures, using plumb bob, gauge line, and level.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Monumental (Pisa/Petra/Panama robot fleet) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Replace broken or missing masonry units in walls or floors.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Drill holes in marble or ornamental stone and anchor brackets in holes.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Park Industries SPARTAN CNC router (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 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.
- Brickmasons and Blockmasons8% now, 8% by 2028
- Tile and Stone Setters4% now, 4% by 2028
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing5% now, 5% by 2028
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters6% now, 6% by 2028
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers0% now, 0% 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 Stonemasons 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 Stonemasons 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 Stonemasons stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Lay brick to build shells of chimneys and smokestacks or to line or reline industrial furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations; Shape, trim, face and cut marble or stone preparatory to setting, using power saws, cutting equipment, and hand tools; and Set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Stonemasons?
- 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 Stonemasons?
- 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 84% of the working time, 37% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.20 of 3. One example: Monumental autonomous bricklaying robots (Atrium platform) for "set stone or marble in place, according to layout or pattern". 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.
This job in your state or metro area
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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.