Will AI replace Crane and Tower Operators?
Estimated risk score: 18 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 (0 to 37).
Low confidence: only 11 of its tasks are rated.
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 11 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 53-7021.00 · Transportation and Material Moving
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: 1 of its 11 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Review daily work or delivery schedules to determine orders, sequences of deliveries, or special loading instructions.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 8 of its 11 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean, lubricate, and maintain mechanisms such as cables, pulleys, or grappling devices, making repairs, as necessary.
- Direct helpers engaged in placing blocking or outrigging under cranes.
- Inspect and adjust crane mechanisms or lifting accessories to prevent malfunctions or damage.
- Inspect cables or grappling devices for wear and install or replace cables, as needed.
- Load or unload bundles from trucks, or move containers to storage bins, using moving equipment.
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, or turn dials to operate cranes, cherry pickers, electromagnets, or other moving equipment for lifting, moving, or placing loads.
What the job is
Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.
Also called: Crane Operator, Scrap Crane Operator, Mobile Crane Operator, Overhead Crane Operator, Winchman, Derrickman, Mold Shaker, Mold Washer.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Transportation and Material Moving). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
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