Will AI replace Printing Press Operators?
Estimated risk score: 40 out of 100
Lower 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 (21 to 59).
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 51-5112.00 · 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: 8 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain time or production records.
- Download completed jobs to archive media so that questions can be answered or jobs replicated.
- Input production job settings into workstation terminals that control automated printing systems.
- Control workflow scheduling or job tracking, using computer database software.
- Download or scan files to be printed, using printing production software.
- Monitor automated press operation systems and respond to fault, error, or alert messages.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 13 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Adjust ink fountain flow rates.
- Change press plates, blankets, or cylinders, as required.
- Clean ink fountains, plates, or printing unit cylinders when press runs are completed.
- Clean or oil presses or make minor repairs, using hand tools.
- Feed paper through press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls.
- Load presses with paper and make necessary adjustments, according to paper size.
What the job is
Set up and operate digital, letterpress, lithographic, flexographic, gravure, or other printing machines. Includes short-run offset printing presses.
Also called: Pressman, Backer, Coverer, Bag Printer, Box Printer, Die Mounter, Ink Printer, Job Printer.
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