Will AI replace Cutters and Trimmers, Hand?

Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 18 official task statements scored for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand (United States, SOC 51-9031), 7% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 6 out of 100 (range 5–10, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.

Which tasks in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” can AI already do?

The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Read work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations, and quantities to cut” (75/100, high); “Position templates or measure materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields, using rules, scales, or patterns” (14/100, minimal); “Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes” (0/100, minimal). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.

Which tasks in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” stay human?

About 93% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Transport items to work or storage areas, using carts” (0/100, minimal); “Adjust guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts” (0/100, minimal); “Lower table-mounted cutters such as knife blades, cutting wheels, or saws to cut items to specified sizes” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.

What should someone working in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” do about AI?

Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 7% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 93% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.

How is the AI exposure score for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand calculated?

Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 18 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

US dataswitch to UK

Cutters and Trimmers, Hand

marking or discarding items with defects, marking identification numbers, trademarks, grades and unrolling, laying out. If that's your week, this page is about your job.

The honest answer

AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: marking or discarding items with defects is work software can't reach.

Your move: what you can actually do about this ↓

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 7%
changing shape: 0%
staying human: 93%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

Whole-job exposure score 6 out of 100 (5–10 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 18 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.

How we know this

What is measured: Every published task statement for cutters and trimmers, hand is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.

What shifts is reading work orders to determine dimensions: the overhead at the edges, not the middle you trained for.

Your week, as this page understands it

Use hand tools or hand-held power tools to cut and trim a variety of manufactured items, such as carpet, fabric, stone, glass, or rubber. The job title says “cutters”, “trimmers” or “hand”: officially one job, several names. The real job is the part underneath: marking or discarding items with defects. That is the thing someone has to be right about.

The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But cutters and trimmers, hand is not one task. It is 18 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is marking or discarding items with defects, and the ledger below shows exactly why.

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 7%
changing shape: 0%
staying human: 93%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

How we know this

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.

Your job, task by task

These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.

2 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Shifting to AI

1 task

Tasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.

Reading work orders to determine dimensions
This is reading one thing and writing another: work orders in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Read work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations, and quantities to cut.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 75 out of 100 (71–79 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Reading a work order to pull out dimensions, locations and quantities is straightforward document work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.

Changing shape

0 tasks

Tasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.

Nothing in this job’s scored task list landed in this group. That is the measurement, not an editorial choice, and it is worth knowing either way.

Staying human

17 tasks

Tasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.

Marking or discarding items with defects
This work happens in the physical world: items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Spotting a stain or chip and pulling the item out of the line means handling the goods.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Cutting, shaping and trimming materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone and metal, using knives, scissors and other hand tools
This work happens in the physical world: materials, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Cut, shape, and trim materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone, and metal, using knives, scissors, and other hand tools, portable power tools, or bench-mounted tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Cutting and shaping materials by hand is exactly what this job physically is.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Marking cutting lines around patterns or templates
This work happens in the physical world: lines around patterns, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Mark cutting lines around patterns or templates, or follow layout points, using squares, rules, and straightedges, and chalk, pencils, or scribes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Marking cutting lines onto the material itself is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Trimming excess material or cutting threads off finished products
This work happens in the physical world: excess material, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Trim excess material or cut threads off finished products, such as cutting loose ends of plastic off a manufactured toy for a smoother finish.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Trimming stray material off finished products is hands-on work with a blade.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Positioning templates or measuring materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields
This work happens in the physical world: templates, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Position templates or measure materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields, using rules, scales, or patterns.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 14 out of 100 (7–21 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Getting the most out of a piece of material is a calculation software does well, but laying the template down is hands-on.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Folding or shaping materials before or after cutting them
This work happens in the physical world: materials, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Fold or shape materials before or after cutting them.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Folding or shaping material is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Separating materials or products
This work happens in the physical world: materials, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Separate materials or products according to size, weight, type, condition, color, or shade.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Sorting products by size, color or condition means handling each item.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Marking identification numbers, trademarks, grades, marketing data, sizes or model numbers on products
This work happens in the physical world: identification numbers, trademarks, grades, marketing data, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Mark identification numbers, trademarks, grades, marketing data, sizes, or model numbers on products.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Marking numbers, grades and sizes onto products is physical work at the bench.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Unrolling, laying out, attaching or mounting materials or items on cutting tables or machines
This work happens in the physical world: out, attaching or mounting materials or items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Unroll, lay out, attach, or mount materials or items on cutting tables or machines.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Unrolling and mounting material on the cutting table is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.

Show the other 8 tasks

Counting or weighing and bundle items
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: bundle items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Count or weigh and bundle items.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Counting, weighing and bundling items is physical handling.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Stacking cut items and loading them on racks or conveyors or onto trucks
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: cut items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Stack cut items and load them on racks or conveyors or onto trucks.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Stacking cut items and loading them onto racks or trucks is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Cleaning, treating, buff or polish finished items, using grinders, brushes, chisels and cleaning solutions and polishing materials
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: buff, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Clean, treat, buff, or polish finished items, using grinders, brushes, chisels, and cleaning solutions and polishing materials.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Buffing, cleaning and polishing finished items is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Routing items to provide cutouts
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Route items to provide cutouts for parts, using portable routers, grinders, and hand tools.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Routing cutouts with a portable router is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Replacing or sharpening dulled cutting tools
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: dulled cutting tools, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools such as saws.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Changing or sharpening blades is hands-on work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Lowering table-mounted cutters, knife blades, cutting wheels or saws to cut items to specified sizes
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: table-mounted cutters, knife blades, cutting wheels or saws, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Lower table-mounted cutters such as knife blades, cutting wheels, or saws to cut items to specified sizes.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Bringing a table-mounted blade down to make a cut is a physical operation.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Adjusting guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: guides, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Adjust guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Adjusting guides and stops is done at the machine by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Transporting items to work or storage areas
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · Supplemental
Source: “Transport items to work or storage areas, using carts.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Moving items to work or storage areas on carts is physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.

What this job pays, and how many people do it

Median pay: $38,020a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
People doing this job: 6,060in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)

What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.

Why this is shifting

The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: work orders in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: reading work orders to determine dimensions. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where items get done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.

Your move

Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend

Start with what does not change: marking or discarding items with defects is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.

So, given all that: 7% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 0% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 93% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 18 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.

So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Reading work orders to determine dimensions is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.

This week: one thing

Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to work orders, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.

What you end up holding: a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
How long it takes: ten minutes

If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether items are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.

Over the next 90 days

Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near marking or discarding items with defects. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.

Over the next 12 months

On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.

The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them

I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.

I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to cutters and trimmers, hand (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was computer numerically controlled tool operators: only about 6% of its durable work is work you already do. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 6/100 here, with only 7% of the task list in the top band, and “mark or discard items with defects” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.

How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.

3 moves I checked and rejected

These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.

Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools, and their equivalent is to remove and replace dull cutting tools. Across both published task lists that is about 6% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 6% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools, and their equivalent is to replace worn tools, using hand tools, and sharpen dull tools, using bench grinders. Across both published task lists that is about 4% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 4% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools, and their equivalent is to replace worn tools, and sharpen dull cutting tools and dies, using bench grinders…. Across both published task lists that is about 4% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 4% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step.
Look at that job’s page anyway →

What I’d stop worrying about

A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.

The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 7% of its task weight, across 18 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like marking or discarding items with defects arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.

You are reading the United States figures

The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Tailors and dressmakers is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.

Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match

The other groups this work is counted across:

Glass and ceramics makers, decorators and finishers

In UK official statistics this job is counted as Tailors and dressmakers and Glass and ceramics makers, decorators and finishers. Pay is shown separately for each of those groups (medians cannot be averaged together), while the task list and the scores on this page are for this group only.

Your route through this

Where to go next, and what it costs

Free, and complete

The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.

Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
American Job Center locator
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
- CareerOneStop local help hub
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop
Free

No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it

Nothing Collab365 runs is built for cutters / trimmers / hand, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.

There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 7% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.

Try The AI Authority free →

7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.

The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for cutters / trimmers / hand. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.

Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for cutters / trimmers / hand launches. Nothing else.

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No Space for cutters / trimmers / hand yet. Should there be one?

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Questions people ask about this job

Will AI replace Cutters and Trimmers, Hand?: Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 18 official task statements scored for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand (United States, SOC 51-9031), 7% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 6 out of 100 (range 5–10, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
Which tasks in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” can AI already do?: The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Read work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations, and quantities to cut” (75/100, high); “Position templates or measure materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields, using rules, scales, or patterns” (14/100, minimal); “Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes” (0/100, minimal). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
Which tasks in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” stay human?: About 93% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Transport items to work or storage areas, using carts” (0/100, minimal); “Adjust guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts” (0/100, minimal); “Lower table-mounted cutters such as knife blades, cutting wheels, or saws to cut items to specified sizes” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
What should someone working in “Cutters and Trimmers, Hand” do about AI?: Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 7% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 93% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
How is the AI exposure score for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand calculated?: Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 18 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

Where these numbers come from

Worth knowing about these figures

The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
2 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Task statements: onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
Task weights: onet-db (im-rt)
Scores: Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
Pay and employment: bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))

Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.

The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.

The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.

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Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.

Plain text

Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).

BibTeX

@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
  title        = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
  author       = {{Collab365}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
  note         = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}

Permalink

https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1

Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.