Will AI replace Semiconductor Processing Technicians?
Estimated risk score: 25 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 (6 to 44).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 24 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 51-9141.00 · 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: 5 of its 24 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain processing, production, and inspection information and reports.
- Calculate etching time based on thickness of material to be removed from wafers or crystals.
- Monitor operation and adjust controls of processing machines and equipment to produce compositions with specific electronic properties, using computer terminals.
- Set, adjust, and readjust computerized or mechanical equipment controls to regulate power level, temperature, vacuum, and rotation speed of furnace, according to crystal growing specifications.
- Study work orders, instructions, formulas, and processing charts to determine specifications and sequence of operations.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 17 of its 24 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean and maintain equipment, including replacing etching and rinsing solutions and cleaning bath containers and work area.
- Clean semiconductor wafers using cleaning equipment, such as chemical baths, automatic wafer cleaners, or blow-off wands.
- Load and unload equipment chambers and transport finished product to storage or to area for further processing.
- Manipulate valves, switches, and buttons, or key commands into control panels to start semiconductor processing cycles.
- Place semiconductor wafers in processing containers or equipment holders, using vacuum wand or tweezers.
- Align photo mask pattern on photoresist layer, expose pattern to ultraviolet light, and develop pattern, using specialized equipment.
What the job is
Perform any or all of the following functions in the manufacture of electronic semiconductors: load semiconductor material into furnace; saw formed ingots into segments; load individual segment into crystal growing chamber and monitor controls; locate crystal axis in ingot using x-ray equipment and saw ingots into wafers; and clean, polish, and load wafers into series of special purpose furnaces, chemical baths, and equipment used to form circuitry and change conductive properties.
Also called: Diffusion Operator, Die Attacher, Wafer Mounter, Crystal Grower, Crystal Slicer, MOCVD Engineer, Probe Operator, Crystal Mounter.
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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