---
title: "Will AI Replace Cutting? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates cutting' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (-10.5% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-cutting"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Cutting? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates cutting among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places cutting in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to fall by 10.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,200 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 43/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | -10.5% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 13,200 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $46,330 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Handling and moving objects: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Repeating the same tasks: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Repetitive motions: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Clean work area.
- Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.
- Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws.
- Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data.
- Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers.
- Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand): BLS exposure Low, median $42,660
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender): BLS exposure Low, median $43,380
- [Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forging-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic): BLS exposure Low, median $49,030
- [Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-lapping-polishing-and-buffing-machine-tool-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic): BLS exposure Low, median $46,550

## FAQ

**Will AI replace cutting?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates cutting among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to fall by 10.5% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,200 openings a year.

**How exposed are cutting to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Cutting are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a cutting, punching, and press machine setter, operator, and tender, metal and plastic's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are repeating the same tasks, repetitive motions and being exact or highly accurate. The parts that hold up best are hands-on work with tools and objects, face-to-face discussions and handling and moving objects. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a cutting, punching, and press machine setter, operator, and tender, metal and plastic a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, cutting score 43 out of 100, higher than 47% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $46,330 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to cutting are less exposed to AI?**

Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand (low exposure, $42,660 median), Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing (low exposure, $43,380 median), Forging Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic (low exposure, $49,030 median), Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setter, Operator, and Tender, Metal and Plastic (low exposure, $46,550 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/cutting-punching-and-press-machine-setter-operator-and-tender-metal-and-plastic.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology