US dataswitch to UK
Gas Plant Operators
monitoring equipment functioning, observe temperature, adjusting temperature, pressure, vacuum, level and collaborating with other operators to solve unit problems. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: starting and shutting down plant equipment is work software can't reach.
What shifts is recording, reviewing and compiling operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, pressures, concentrations and flows: the overhead at the edges, not the middle you trained for.
Your week, as this page understands it
Distribute or process gas for utility companies and others by controlling compressors to maintain specified pressures on main pipelines. The job title says “gas plant operators”. The real job is the part underneath: starting and shutting down plant equipment. 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 gas plant operators is not one task. It is 19 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is starting and shutting down plant equipment, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 0%
- changing shape
- 19%
- staying human
- 81%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 21 out of 100 (16–28 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, across 19 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 gas plant operators 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.
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.
- 3 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
0 tasksTasks 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.
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.
Changing shape
3 tasksTasks 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.
Recording, reviewing and compiling operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, pressures, concentrations and flows
The software now makes the first pass at operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (52–60 allowing for uncertainty): partial 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: Compiling readings, test results and operating logs into records is well suited to software.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · 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 3/4.
Contacting maintenance crews
The software now makes the first pass at maintenance crews, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Contact maintenance crews when necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 48 out of 100 (41–55 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium 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: Deciding a fault needs maintenance and calling it in is a routine, well-defined message.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Reading logsheets to determine product demand and disposition
The software now makes the first pass at logsheets, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 56 out of 100 (49–63 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium 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 logsheets to work out demand or spot a malfunction is pattern-spotting in recorded data.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · 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 3/4.
Staying human
16 tasksTasks 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.
Monitoring equipment functioning, observe temperature, level and flow gauges and performing regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it
This work happens in the physical world: equipment functioning, observe temperature, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.” (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: Gauges can be read automatically, but the regular walk-round checks need an operator in the plant.
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.
Collaborating with other operators to solve unit problems
The value here is that a specific person handles other operators and stands behind it. That is earned, not computed.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 26 out of 100 (19–33 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Solving a unit problem with fellow operators depends on shared experience of that particular plant.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Controlling operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress or regasify natural gas
This work happens in the physical world: operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators and refrigeration equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Running compressors and refrigeration units to liquefy gas is machine control carried out at the plant.
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 3/4.
Distributing or processing gas for utility companies or industrial plants
This work happens in the physical world: gas, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Moving gas through the plant changes something physical, and the operator works the boards on site.
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 3/4.
Determining causes of abnormal pressure variances
The ratings behind this row put causes of abnormal pressure variances well outside what today's tools can do on their own.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 38 out of 100 (31–45 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Working out why pressure is misbehaving and what to change is analysis of instrument data, which software handles well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Starting and shutting down plant equipment
This work happens in the physical world: plant equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Start and shut down plant equipment.” (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: Starting up and shutting down plant equipment is a physical operation on site.
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.
Adjusting temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate or transferring of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems
This work happens in the physical world: temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Adjusting temperature, pressure and flow changes the physical process and is done at the controls.
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 3/4.
Show the other 9 tasks
Calculating gas ratios to detect deviations from specifications
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: gas ratios, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Calculate gas ratios to detect deviations from specifications, using testing apparatus.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 33 out of 100 (26–40 allowing for uncertainty): low 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: The calculation is simple arithmetic, but the sample still has to be run through testing apparatus by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Monitoring transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: transportation, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 25 out of 100 (18–32 allowing for uncertainty): low 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: Safety rules are written down, but checking that flammable products are handled correctly means watching the operation.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Testing gas, chemicals and air during processing to assess factors
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: gas, chemicals and air, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Test gas, chemicals, and air during processing to assess factors such as purity and moisture content, and to detect quality problems or gas or chemical leaks.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Testing gas purity and hunting leaks means handling samples and instruments in the plant.
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 3/4.
Controlling equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Regulating gas flow and pressure to boilers and furnaces is hands-on control of live 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 3/4.
Controlling fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers and related equipment to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: columns, compressors, purifying towers, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Control fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers, and related equipment to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium 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: Running columns and heat exchangers to separate nitrogen and oxygen is on-site machine control.
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 3/4.
Signaling or directing workers who tend auxiliary equipment
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: workers who tend auxiliary equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Signal or direct workers who tend auxiliary equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 7 out of 100 (0–14 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Directing workers on auxiliary equipment happens face to face on the plant floor.
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 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Cleaning, maintaining and repairing equipment, using hand tools or requesting that repair and maintenance work
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed.” (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, maintaining and repairing equipment 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 2/4.
Changing charts in recording meters
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: charts, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Change charts in recording meters.” (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: Swapping the paper chart in a recording meter means opening the instrument and doing it 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.
Operating construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: construction equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Operate construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems.” (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: Operating construction plant to lay and maintain gas mains is physical work in the ground.
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
- $87,820a 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
- 18,030in 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: operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: recording, reviewing and compiling operations records. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where plant equipment gets 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: starting and shutting down plant equipment is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 0% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 19% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 81% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 19 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, reviewing and compiling operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, pressures, concentrations and flows 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 operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, 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 plant equipment is 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 recording, reviewing and compiling operations records, testing results and gauge readings, temperatures, pressures, concentrations and flows. 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 gas plant operators (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was chemical plant and system operators: only about 6% of its durable work is work you already do and it pays 11.0% less. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 21/100 here, with only 0% of the task list in the top band, and “monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular…” 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.
Chemical Plant and System Operators
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards…, and their equivalent is to control or operate chemical processes or systems of machines, using panelboards, control boards…. 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. It is a pay cut, in those words: $78,120 against your $87,820, 11.0% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Nuclear Power Reactor Operators
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already start and shut down plant equipment, and their equivalent is to implement operational procedures. 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.
Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and…, and their equivalent is to clean, lubricate, and repair pumps and vessels, using hand tools and equipment. 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. It is a pay cut, in those words: $61,770 against your $87,820, 29.7% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
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: 0% of its task weight, across 19 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 starting and shutting down plant equipment 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 Energy plant operatives 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:
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Energy plant operatives and Chemical and related process operatives. 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:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
Free
Why there is no community here
Collab365, who build this site, run paid Spaces for a small number of subjects, and none of them is built for this job. We are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
So the free services listed on this page are the whole answer, and it is the same answer we would give a friend.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for gas plant operators launches. Nothing else.
That did not look like an email address, so nothing was saved. Have another go below.
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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 Gas Plant Operators?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 19 official task statements scored for Gas Plant Operators (United States, SOC 51-8092), 0% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 21 out of 100 (range 16–28, band: low). 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 “Gas Plant Operators” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows” (56/100, partial); “Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions” (56/100, partial); “Contact maintenance crews when necessary” (48/100, partial). 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 “Gas Plant Operators” stay human?
- About 81% 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: “Operate construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems” (0/100, minimal); “Change charts in recording meters” (0/100, minimal); “Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed” (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 “Gas Plant Operators” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 0% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 81% 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 Gas Plant Operators 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 19 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.
- 3 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.
Using these figures?
Cite this
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}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . 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.