Will AI replace Machine Feeders and Offbearers?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
9/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 20% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 19% of the work
What the job involves
Feed materials into or remove materials from machines or equipment that is automatic or tended by other workers.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(2)
- Record production and operational data, such as amount of materials processed.
- Identify and mark materials, products, and samples, following instructions.
Out of reach(11)
- Inspect materials and products for defects, and to ensure conformance to specifications.
- Clean and maintain machinery, equipment, and work areas to ensure proper functioning and safe working conditions.
- Push dual control buttons and move controls to start, stop, or adjust machinery and equipment.
- Weigh or measure materials or products to ensure conformance to specifications.
- Transfer materials and products to and from machinery and equipment, using industrial trucks or hand trucks.
and 6 more
Also called
Feeder · Catcher · Machine Feeder · Doffer · Acid Dumper · Automatic Stacker · Back Tender · Base Remover
Related jobs
- Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders3/100
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing3/100
- Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders0/100
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders9/100
- Cutting and Slicing 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