UK AI Exposure · Skilled trades occupations
Metal plate workers, smiths, moulders and related occupations
Metal plate workers, smiths, moulders and related occupations mark off, drill, shape, position, rivet and seal metal plates and girders to form structures and frameworks operate power hammers and presses to shape heated metal to requirements and to make and repair a variety of metal articles and make moulds and cores for casting metal and pour or inject molten metal into dies.
- Employees (UK)
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- Median annual pay
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- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 0.8/10 Minimal strict reading · with tools is 0.8/10 with-tools reading · strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
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Higher exposure than 4% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where we start — flip the toggle to 'With tools' to see what AI plus the right context can compress.
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Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
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Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
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Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
Most roles have at least three wedges where AI plus the right tools removes real time. For this role the labelling doesn't surface obvious ones, so we'd start with the highest-stakes tasks below and figure out the AI angle in conversation.
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Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
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Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
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Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
The full task breakdown
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
Tasks via O*NET "Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic" (51-4022.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 13 tasks · unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
Where humans still hold the line
13 of 13 tasks
Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
Set up, operate, or tend presses and forging machines to perform hot or cold forging by flattening, straightening, bending, cutting, piercing, or other operations to taper, shape, or form metal.
Turn handles or knobs to set pressures and depths of ram strokes and to synchronize machine operations.
Install, adjust, and remove dies, synchronizing cams, forging hammers, and stop guides, using overhead cranes or other hoisting devices, and hand tools.
Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.
Confer with other workers about machine setups and operational specifications.
Trim and compress finished forgings to specified tolerances.
Remove dies from machines when production runs are finished.
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
Sharpen cutting tools and drill bits, using bench grinders.
Tasks via O*NET "Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic" (51-4022.00).
What AI can already do
1 of 13 tasks · with tools
Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
Where humans still hold the line
12 of 13 tasks
Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
Set up, operate, or tend presses and forging machines to perform hot or cold forging by flattening, straightening, bending, cutting, piercing, or other operations to taper, shape, or form metal.
Turn handles or knobs to set pressures and depths of ram strokes and to synchronize machine operations.
Install, adjust, and remove dies, synchronizing cams, forging hammers, and stop guides, using overhead cranes or other hoisting devices, and hand tools.
Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.
Confer with other workers about machine setups and operational specifications.
Trim and compress finished forgings to specified tolerances.
Remove dies from machines when production runs are finished.
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
Sharpen cutting tools and drill bits, using bench grinders.
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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