US dataswitch to UK

Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers

setting up, observing machine operations, control boards and gauges to detect malfunctions, pressing metering-pump buttons and turn valves to stop flow of polymers and moving controls to activate and adjusting extruding and forming machines. If that's your week, this page is about your job.

The honest answer

AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions 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: 8%
changing shape: 0%
staying human: 92%

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

Whole-job exposure score 9 out of 100 (8–14 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 17 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 extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers 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 recording details of machine malfunctions: the overhead at the edges, not the middle you trained for.

Your week, as this page understands it

Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form continuous filaments from synthetic materials, such as liquid polymer, rayon, and fiberglass. The job title says “extruding”, “forming machine setters”, “operators”, “tenders”, “synthetic” or “glass fibers”: officially one job, several names. The real job is the part underneath: pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions. 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 extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers is not one task. It is 17 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions, and the ledger below shows exactly why.

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 8%
changing shape: 0%
staying human: 92%

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.

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.

Recording details of machine malfunctions
This is reading one thing and writing another: details of machine malfunctions in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Record details of machine malfunctions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 64 out of 100 (60–68 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Writing down what went wrong with a machine is simple record-keeping software fills in easily.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.

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

16 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.

Pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions
This work happens in the physical world: buttons, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions are detected.” (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: Pressing the stop button is a physical action taken at the machine.
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.
Notifying other workers of defects
This work happens in the physical world: other workers of defects, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 21 out of 100 (14–28 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Telling colleagues about a defect and what to change is quick spoken communication on the production floor.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Observing machine operations, control boards and gauges to detect malfunctions, clogged bushings and defective binder applicators
This work happens in the physical world: machine operations, control boards and gauges, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Observe machine operations, control boards, and gauges to detect malfunctions such as clogged bushings and defective binder applicators.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (4–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Watching gauges and machine behavior for faults means standing at the equipment.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · 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 2/4.
Setting up, operate or tend machines that extrude and form filaments from synthetic materials, rayon, fiberglass or liquid polymers
This work happens in the physical world: up, operate or tend machines, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form filaments from synthetic materials such as rayon, fiberglass, or liquid polymers.” (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: Setting up and running extrusion machinery is hands-on work at the machine.
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.
Moving controls to activate and adjusting extruding and forming machines
This work happens in the physical world: controls, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Move controls to activate and adjust extruding and forming 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: Moving controls to run and adjust the machine is done by hand at the machine.
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.
Cleaning and maintaining extruding and forming machines
This work happens in the physical world: machines, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using 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: Cleaning and maintaining machinery with hand tools 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 1/4.
Loading materials into extruding and forming machines
This work happens in the physical world: materials, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Core
Source: “Load materials into extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and adjust feed mechanisms to set feed rates.” (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: Loading material with hand tools and setting feed mechanisms 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 1/4.
Observing flow of finish across finish rollers
This work happens in the physical world: flow of finish across finish rollers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Observe flow of finish across finish rollers, and turn valves to adjust flow to specifications.” (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: Watching the finish flow and turning valves is hands-on work at the rollers.
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.
Removing polymer deposits from spinnerettes and equipment
This work happens in the physical world: polymer deposits, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Remove polymer deposits from spinnerettes and equipment, using silicone spray, brass chisels, and bronze-wool pads.” (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: Scraping polymer deposits off spinnerettes is manual cleaning with tools.
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.

Show the other 7 tasks

Recording operational data on tags
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: operational data, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Record operational data on tags, and attach tags to machines.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 34 out of 100 (27–41 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Writing operational data on tags is simple recording, but the tags then have to be attached by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Starting metering pumps and observing operation of machines and equipment to ensure continuous flow of filaments extruded through spinnerettes and to detect processing defects
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: pumps, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Start metering pumps and observe operation of machines and equipment to ensure continuous flow of filaments extruded through spinnerettes and to detect processing defects.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (4–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Starting pumps and watching filament flow means being at the machine throughout.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · 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 2/4.
Removing excess, entangled or completed filaments from machines, using hand tools
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: excess, entangled or completed filaments, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Remove excess, entangled, or completed filaments from machines, using 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: Pulling tangled or finished filament off the machine is done 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.
Opening cabinet doors to cut multifilament threadlines away from guides
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: cabinet doors, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · Supplemental
Source: “Open cabinet doors to cut multifilament threadlines away from guides, using scissors.” (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: Opening cabinets and cutting threadlines with scissors 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 1/4.
Pressing metering-pump buttons and turn valves to stop flow of polymers
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: metering-pump buttons, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Press metering-pump buttons and turn valves to stop flow of polymers.” (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: Pressing buttons and turning valves to stop polymer flow is a physical action.
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.
Lowering pans inside cabinets to catch molten filaments until flow of polymer through packs
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: pans inside cabinets, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Lower pans inside cabinets to catch molten filaments until flow of polymer through packs has stopped.” (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: Lowering pans to catch molten filament is a physical action inside the machine.
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.
Wiping finish rollers with cloths and washing finish trays with water
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: finish rollers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · Supplemental
Source: “Wipe finish rollers with cloths and wash finish trays with water when necessary.” (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: Wiping rollers and washing trays is manual cleaning.
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.

What this job pays, and how many people do it

Median pay: $46,350a 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: 12,850in 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: details of machine malfunctions in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: recording details of machine malfunctions. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where buttons 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: pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.

So, given all that: 8% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 0% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 92% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 17 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. Recording details of machine malfunctions 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 details of machine malfunctions, 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 other workers of defects 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 pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions. 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 extruding and forming machine setters, operators, and tenders, synthetic and glass fibers (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders: only about 11% of its durable work is work you already do. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 9/100 here, with only 8% of the task list in the top band, and “press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions…” 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.

Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions are…, and their equivalent is to press control buttons to activate machinery and equipment. Across both published task lists that is about 11% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 11% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Extruding and Drawing 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 notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming…, and their equivalent is to measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance…. 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 →
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and their equivalent is to clean or maintain products, machines, or work areas. 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: 8% of its task weight, across 17 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 pressing buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions 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 Process operatives n.e.c. 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

In UK official statistics this job is counted as Process operatives n.e.c.. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.

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 extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers, 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 8% 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 extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers. 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 extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers launches. Nothing else.

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No Space for extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers yet. Should there be one?

Collab365 Spaces is built by the same people as this site. We find the problems that AI and automation are creating inside one kind of work, then solve them as short courses, briefings and Blueprints. Each Space is the community too, so the research and the people doing your job are in the same place.

What a Space actually is, in full

Collab365 launches new communities where the need is real. If one for extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers existed, with researched problems, courses and people in the same boat, would you want in?

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We use your email address for one thing: to tell you if a Space for extruding / forming machine setters / operators / tenders / synthetic / glass fibers launches. We never sell it, never use it for unrelated marketing, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe. Our privacy policy has the full version.

This unlocks nothing. Every figure, every row and every step on this page is already yours, whether you fill this in or not.

No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.

Questions people ask about this job

Will AI replace Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers?: Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 17 official task statements scored for Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers (United States, SOC 51-6091), 8% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 9 out of 100 (range 8–14, 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 “Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers” can AI already do?: The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Record details of machine malfunctions” (64/100, high); “Record operational data on tags, and attach tags to machines” (34/100, low); “Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines” (21/100, low). 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 “Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers” stay human?: About 92% 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: “Wipe finish rollers with cloths and wash finish trays with water when necessary” (0/100, minimal); “Lower pans inside cabinets to catch molten filaments until flow of polymer through packs has stopped” (0/100, minimal); “Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools” (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 “Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers” do about AI?: Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 8% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 92% 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 Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers 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 17 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.
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.