Will AI replace Patternmakers, Wood?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
25/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 42% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 4% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 38% of the work
What the job involves
Plan, lay out, and construct wooden unit or sectional patterns used in forming sand molds for castings.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Compute dimensions, areas, volumes, and weights.
Within reach(7)
- Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
- Divide patterns into sections according to shapes of castings to facilitate removal of patterns from molds.
- Select lumber to be used for patterns.
- Mark identifying information such as colors or codes on patterns, parts, and templates to indicate assembly methods.
- Maintain pattern records for reference.
and 2 more
Out of reach(12)
- Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, and screws.
- Lay out patterns on wood stock and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products, based on blueprint specifications and sketches, and using marking and measuring devices.
- Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and lathes to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
- Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
- Verify dimensions of completed patterns, using templates, straightedges, calipers, or protractors.
and 7 more
Also called
Wood Patternmaker · Patternmaker · Mold Forms Builder · Pattern Worker · Wood Die Maker · Wood Experimental Mechanic · Mold Maker · Pattern Engineer
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