Will AI replace Tool and Die Makers?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
10/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 21% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 21% of the work
What the job involves
Analyze specifications, lay out metal stock, set up and operate machine tools, and fit and assemble parts to make and repair dies, cutting tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges, and machinists' hand tools.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(4)
- Set up and operate conventional or computer numerically controlled machine tools such as lathes, milling machines, or grinders to cut, bore, grind, or otherwise shape parts to prescribed dimensions and finishes.
- Select metals to be used from a range of metals and alloys, based on properties such as hardness or heat tolerance.
- Design jigs, fixtures, and templates for use as work aids in the fabrication of parts or products.
- Develop and design new tools and dies, using computer-aided design software.
Out of reach(13)
- Verify dimensions, alignments, and clearances of finished parts for conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments such as calipers, gauge blocks, micrometers, or dial indicators.
- Fit and assemble parts to make, repair, or modify dies, jigs, gauges, and tools, using machine tools, hand tools, or welders.
- Study blueprints, sketches, models, or specifications to plan sequences of operations for fabricating tools, dies, or assemblies.
- Visualize and compute dimensions, sizes, shapes, and tolerances of assemblies, based on specifications.
- File, grind, shim, and adjust different parts to properly fit them together.
and 8 more
Also called
Tool and Die Maker · Tool Maker · Die Finisher · Die Maker · Die Sinker · Plastic Fixture Builder · Saw Maker · Trim Die Maker
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