Will AI replace Maintenance Workers, Machinery?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
12/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 22% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 12% of the work
What the job involves
Lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(2)
- Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information.
- Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance.
Out of reach(16)
- Reassemble machines after the completion of repair or maintenance work.
- Dismantle machines and remove parts for repair, using hand tools, chain falls, jacks, cranes, or hoists.
- Lubricate or apply adhesives or other materials to machines, machine parts, or other equipment according to specified procedures.
- Install, replace, or change machine parts and attachments, according to production specifications.
- Inspect or test damaged machine parts, and mark defective areas or advise supervisors of repair needs.
and 11 more
Also called
Oiler · Shuttler · Lubricator · Flyer Repairer · Frame Bander · Frame Changer · Greaser · Knife Changer
Related jobs
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics13/100
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic12/100
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic6/100
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers2/100
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines11/100
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