---
title: "Will AI Replace Welders? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates welders' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+2.4% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-welders"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Welders? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates welders 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 welders in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +2.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 40,300 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 45/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +2.4% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 40,300 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $53,750 | 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

- Face-to-face discussions: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Handling and moving objects: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Getting information: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Repetitive motions: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
- Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
- Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
- Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
- Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
- Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairer): BLS exposure Low, median $56,210
- [Engine and Other Machine Assembler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/engine-and-other-machine-assembler): BLS exposure Low, median $53,710
- [Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/structural-metal-fabricator-and-fitter): BLS exposure Low, median $51,330
- [Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welding-soldering-and-brazing-machine-setter-operator-and-tender): BLS exposure Low, median $47,920
- [Boilermaker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/boilermaker): BLS exposure Low, median $76,410
- [Woodworking Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender, Except Sawing](https://nuecareer.com/careers/woodworking-machine-setter-operator-and-tender): BLS exposure Low, median $43,380

## FAQ

**Will AI replace welders?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates welders 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 change by +2.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 40,300 openings a year.

**How exposed are welders to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Welders 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 welder's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are getting information, being exact or highly accurate and repetitive motions. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, hands-on work with tools and objects 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 welder a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, welders score 45 out of 100, higher than 51% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $53,750 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 welders are less exposed to AI?**

Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer (low exposure, $56,210 median), Engine and Other Machine Assembler (low exposure, $53,710 median), Structural Metal Fabricator and Fitter (low exposure, $51,330 median), Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setter, Operator, and Tender (low exposure, $47,920 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/welder.

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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