Will AI replace Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders?
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
- 6% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 11% of the work
What the job involves
Set up, operate, or tend machines to mix or blend materials, such as chemicals, tobacco, liquids, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Record operational or production data on specified forms.
Within reach(1)
- Read work orders to determine production specifications or information.
Out of reach(17)
- Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.
- Observe production or monitor equipment to ensure safe and efficient operation.
- Mix or blend ingredients by starting machines and mixing for specified times.
- Stop mixing or blending machines when specified product qualities are obtained and open valves and start pumps to transfer mixtures.
- Clean and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
and 12 more
Also called
Blender · Mixer Operator · Chemical Mixer · Batchmaker · Mixer · Chemical Preparer (Chem Prep) · Chem Prep · Color Mixer
Related jobs
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5/100
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders8/100
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders9/100
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders8/100
- Food Batchmakers14/100
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