Will AI replace Crane and Tower Operators?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
0/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 2% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 0% of the work
What the job involves
Operate mechanical boom and cable or tower and cable equipment to lift and move materials, machines, or products in many directions.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Out of reach(10)
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, or turn dials to operate cranes, cherry pickers, electromagnets, or other moving equipment for lifting, moving, or placing loads.
- Inspect and adjust crane mechanisms or lifting accessories to prevent malfunctions or damage.
- Determine load weights and check them against lifting capacities to prevent overload.
- Clean, lubricate, and maintain mechanisms such as cables, pulleys, or grappling devices, making repairs, as necessary.
- Inspect cables or grappling devices for wear and install or replace cables, as needed.
and 5 more
Also called
Overhead Crane Operator · Crane Operator · Tower Crane Operator · Ladle Crane Operator · Monorail Crane Operator · Port Crane Operator · Scrap Crane Operator · Woodyard Crane Operator
Related jobs
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