Will AI replace Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders?
Estimated risk score: 23 out of 100
Very low replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (4 to 42).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 23 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 51-9011.00 · Production
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 3 of its 23 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Record operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results.
- Inventory supplies received and consumed.
- Read plant specifications to determine products, ingredients, or prescribed modifications of plant procedures.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 18 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Add treating or neutralizing agents to products, and pump products through filters or centrifuges to remove impurities or to precipitate products.
- Adjust controls to regulate temperature, pressure, feed, or flow of liquids or gases and times of prescribed reactions, according to knowledge of equipment and processes.
- Control or operate equipment in which chemical changes or reactions take place during the processing of industrial or consumer products.
- Drain equipment, and pump water or other solutions through to flush and clean tanks or equipment.
- Draw samples of products at specified stages so that analyses can be performed.
- Dump or scoop prescribed solid, granular, or powdered materials into equipment.
What the job is
Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.
Also called: Multiskill Operator, Vaporizer, Acid Maker, Salt Maker, Soda Maker, Acid Tender, Causticiser, Cell Tender.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate