Will AI replace Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
5/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 11% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 10% of the work
What the job involves
Operate or tend machines to wash or clean products, such as barrels or kegs, glass items, tin plate, food, pulp, coal, plastic, or rubber, to remove impurities.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(1)
- Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
Out of reach(10)
- Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
- Drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water.
- Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
- Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
- Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
and 5 more
Also called
Degreaser · Precipitate Washer · Pulp Bleacher · Steamer · Trommel Tender · Tubber · Washroom Operator · Wheat Cleaner
Related jobs
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers5/100
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders12/100
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders9/100
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders4/100
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders8/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics