Tire Builders
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.
Operate machines to build tires.
20,770 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
Tire Builders, 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 20 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 100% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 100% in a purpose-built cell. 1.00 of 3, the 116th highest of the 923 jobs.
- In a purpose-built cell 100%
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 . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build semi-raw rubber treads onto buffed tire casings to prepare tires for vulcanization in recapping or retreading processes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Marangoni Ringbuilder RB 3000 (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Buff tires according to specifications for width and undertread depth.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Bandag Buffer 8550E (Bridgestone / Bandag) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Fit inner tubes and final layers of rubber onto tires.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VMI MAXX radial passenger tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 13 min7 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Fill cuts and holes in tires, using hot rubber.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RETRAXX cushion-gum extrusion-smearing retreading system (VMI Group) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Inspect worn tires for faults, cracks, cuts, and nail holes, and to determine if tires are suitable for retreading.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, TreadVision by Michelin Retread Technologies (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Trim excess rubber and imperfections during retreading processes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Bandag Buffer 8550E (Bridgestone / Bandag) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Depress pedals to rotate drums, and wind specified numbers of plies around drums to form tire bodies.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VMI MAXX radial passenger tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Brush or spray solvents onto plies to ensure adhesion, and repeat process as specified, alternating direction of each ply to strengthen tires.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VMI EXXIUM radial passenger tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Cut plies at splice points, and press ends together to form continuous bands.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, MESNAC PT3S PCR two-stage tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean and paint completed tires.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Prozax Robotic Green Tires Painting (mold release spraying cell) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Stays with people | |
| Align treads with guides, start drums to wind treads onto plies, and slice ends.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VMI MAXX radial passenger tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Pull plies from supply racks, and align plies with edges of drums.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, VMI MILEXX truck tire building machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 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.
- Tire Repairers and Changers1% now, 1% by 2028
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic0% now, 0% by 2028
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic5% now, 5% by 2028
- Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers9% now, 9% by 2028
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers0% 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 Tire Builders 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 Tire Builders 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 Tire Builders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Build semi-raw rubber treads onto buffed tire casings to prepare tires for vulcanization in recapping or retreading processes; Buff tires according to specifications for width and undertread depth; and Fit inner tubes and final layers of rubber onto tires. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Tire Builders?
- 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 Tire Builders?
- 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 100% of the working time. Its index is 1.00 of 3. One example: Marangoni Ringbuilder RB 3000 for "build semi-raw rubber treads onto buffed tire casings to prepare tires for vulcanization in recapping or retreading processes". 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 20 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.