UK AI Exposure · Skilled trades occupations
Plasterers
Plasterers apply dry linings, plaster and cement mixtures to walls and ceilings, fix fibrous sheets and cast and fix ornamental plasterwork to the interior or exterior of buildings.
- Employees (UK)
- 7k
- Median annual pay
- £33,789
- Exposure score ?
- 0.2/10 Minimal 0.5/10 Minimal strict reading · with tools is 0.5/10 with-tools reading · strict is 0.2/10
- Wage exposure
- £5m £12m
Higher exposure than 15% 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 blueprints or other specifications to determine methods of installation, work procedures, or material or tool requirements.
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Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
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Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
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 blueprints or other specifications to determine methods of installation, work procedures, or material or tool requirements.
-
Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
-
Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
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 "Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers" (47-2081.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 26 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
26 of 26 tasks
Read blueprints or other specifications to determine methods of installation, work procedures, or material or tool requirements.
Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
Measure and cut openings in panels or tiles for electrical outlets, windows, vents, plumbing, or other fixtures, using keyhole saws or other cutting tools.
Assemble or install metal framing or decorative trim for windows, doorways, or vents.
Cut metal or wood framing and trim to size, using cutting tools.
Inspect furrings, mechanical mountings, or masonry surfaces for plumbness and level, using spirit or water levels.
Cut fixture or border tiles to size, using keyhole saws, and insert them into surrounding frameworks.
Cut and screw together metal channels to make floor or ceiling frames, according to plans for the location of rooms or hallways.
Hang drywall panels on metal frameworks of walls and ceilings in offices, schools, or other large buildings, using lifts or hoists to adjust panel heights, when necessary.
Trim rough edges from wallboard to maintain even joints, using knives.
Suspend angle iron grids or channel irons from ceilings, using wire.
Coordinate work with drywall finishers who cover the seams between drywall panels.
Install horizontal and vertical metal or wooden studs to frames so that wallboard can be attached to interior walls.
Scribe and cut edges of tile to fit walls where wall molding is not specified.
Hang dry lines to wall moldings to guide positioning of main runners.
Fasten metal or rockboard lath to the structural framework of walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings, using nails, screws, staples, or wire-ties.
Install blanket insulation between studs and tack plastic moisture barriers over insulation.
Seal joints between ceiling tiles and walls.
Remove existing plaster, drywall, or paneling, using crowbars and hammers.
Apply or mount acoustical tile or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings or walls of buildings to reduce reflection of sound or to decorate rooms.
Mount tile, using adhesives, or by nailing, screwing, stapling, or wire-tying lath directly to structural frameworks.
Nail channels or wood furring strips to surfaces to provide mounting for tile.
Install metal lath where plaster applications will be exposed to weather or water, or for curved or irregular surfaces.
Apply cement to backs of tiles and press tiles into place, aligning them with layout marks or joints of previously laid tile.
Wash concrete surfaces before mounting tile to increase adhesive qualities of surfaces, using washing soda and zinc sulfate solution.
Tasks via O*NET "Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers" (47-2081.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 26 tasks · with tools
Read blueprints or other specifications to determine methods of installation, work procedures, or material or tool requirements.
Measure and mark surfaces to lay out work, according to blueprints or drawings, using tape measures, straightedges or squares, and marking devices.
Where humans still hold the line
24 of 26 tasks
Fit and fasten wallboard or drywall into position on wood or metal frameworks, using glue, nails, or screws.
Measure and cut openings in panels or tiles for electrical outlets, windows, vents, plumbing, or other fixtures, using keyhole saws or other cutting tools.
Assemble or install metal framing or decorative trim for windows, doorways, or vents.
Cut metal or wood framing and trim to size, using cutting tools.
Inspect furrings, mechanical mountings, or masonry surfaces for plumbness and level, using spirit or water levels.
Cut fixture or border tiles to size, using keyhole saws, and insert them into surrounding frameworks.
Cut and screw together metal channels to make floor or ceiling frames, according to plans for the location of rooms or hallways.
Hang drywall panels on metal frameworks of walls and ceilings in offices, schools, or other large buildings, using lifts or hoists to adjust panel heights, when necessary.
Trim rough edges from wallboard to maintain even joints, using knives.
Suspend angle iron grids or channel irons from ceilings, using wire.
Coordinate work with drywall finishers who cover the seams between drywall panels.
Install horizontal and vertical metal or wooden studs to frames so that wallboard can be attached to interior walls.
Scribe and cut edges of tile to fit walls where wall molding is not specified.
Hang dry lines to wall moldings to guide positioning of main runners.
Fasten metal or rockboard lath to the structural framework of walls, ceilings, or partitions of buildings, using nails, screws, staples, or wire-ties.
Install blanket insulation between studs and tack plastic moisture barriers over insulation.
Seal joints between ceiling tiles and walls.
Remove existing plaster, drywall, or paneling, using crowbars and hammers.
Apply or mount acoustical tile or blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing materials to ceilings or walls of buildings to reduce reflection of sound or to decorate rooms.
Mount tile, using adhesives, or by nailing, screwing, stapling, or wire-tying lath directly to structural frameworks.
Nail channels or wood furring strips to surfaces to provide mounting for tile.
Install metal lath where plaster applications will be exposed to weather or water, or for curved or irregular surfaces.
Apply cement to backs of tiles and press tiles into place, aligning them with layout marks or joints of previously laid tile.
Wash concrete surfaces before mounting tile to increase adhesive qualities of surfaces, using washing soda and zinc sulfate solution.
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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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