Will AI replace Materials Engineers?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
30/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 46% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 46% of the work
What the job involves
Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials. Includes those engineers working with composite materials or specializing in one type of material, such as graphite, metal and metal alloys, ceramics and glass, plastics and polymers, and naturally occurring materials. Includes metallurgists and metallurgical engineers, ceramic engineers, and welding engineers.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(10)
- Plan and implement laboratory operations to develop material and fabrication procedures that meet cost, product specification, and performance standards.
- Design and direct the testing or control of processing procedures.
- Supervise the work of technologists, technicians, and other engineers and scientists.
- Analyze product failure data and laboratory test results to determine causes of problems and develop solutions.
- Perform managerial functions, such as preparing proposals and budgets, analyzing labor costs, and writing reports.
and 5 more
Out of reach(11)
- Conduct or supervise tests on raw materials or finished products to ensure their quality.
- Evaluate technical specifications and economic factors relating to process or product design objectives.
- Review new product plans, and make recommendations for material selection, based on design objectives such as strength, weight, heat resistance, electrical conductivity, and cost.
- Guide technical staff in developing materials for specific uses in projected products or devices.
- Solve problems in a number of engineering fields, such as mechanical, chemical, electrical, civil, nuclear, and aerospace.
and 6 more
Also called
Metallurgical Engineer · Metallurgist · Process Engineer · Welding Engineer · Automotive Sheet Metal Engineer · Ceramic Engineer · Extractive Metallurgist · Foundry Metallurgist
Related jobs
- Materials Scientists55/100
- Chemical Engineers35/100
- Mechanical Engineers42/100
- Manufacturing Engineers49/100
- Industrial Engineers59/100
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