Construction and Extraction · United States (national)
Boilermakers
How exposed this work is to automation, shown as ranges with the reasoning and sources.
The short version: this role is highly exposed to automation, and the bigger shift looks near-term.
It is a sourced range, not a verdict, and the detail is below.
Built on O*NET tasks, BLS pay and projections, and peer-reviewed AI-exposure research. Sources shown.
Data snapshot SNAPSHOT-2026-11-06. How it works
AI / softwarerange 0.0 to 12.0
Physical / roboticsrange 57.3 to 81.3
When the change is likely
Near-term, highlocal demand declining
What to do about it
Use AI to outpace AI.
Strategies to protect your livelihood, most important first.
1
Act within the next 1 to 2 years
Displacement for this role is near-term. Start a concrete reskilling plan now, while you still have income and leverage.
2
Move up from the task to the system
Robotics targets the physical work. Shift toward supervising, maintaining, or programming the automation instead of competing with it.
3
Pivot toward Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
It is skill-adjacent and less exposed (53.2 vs 69). A lateral move now beats a forced one later.
4
Build a financial buffer
Keep 6 to 12 months of expenses and diversify your income, so a disruption is a setback rather than a catastrophe.
5
Add a recognised credential
A certification or license raises the bar against automation and signals value in a tightening market.
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Which of my tasks are exposed
Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
69.3
Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
69.3
Repair or replace defective pressure vessel parts, such as safety valves or regulators, using torches, jacks, caulking hammers, power saws, threading dies, welding equipment, or metalworking machinery.
69.3
Locate and mark reference points for columns or plates on boiler foundations, following blueprints and using straightedges, squares, transits, or measuring instruments.
69.3
Bolt or arc weld pressure vessel structures and parts together, using wrenches or welding equipment.
69.3
Position, align, and secure structural parts or related assemblies to boiler frames, tanks, or vats of pressure vessels, following blueprints.
69.3
Install manholes, handholes, taps, tubes, valves, gauges, or feedwater connections in drums of water tube boilers, using hand tools.
69.3
Shape or fabricate parts, such as stacks, uptakes, or chutes, to adapt pressure vessels, heat exchangers, or piping to premises, using heavy-metalworking machines such as brakes, rolls, or drill presses.
69.3
Longer, orange bars are more automatable; short green bars are resistant.
What is driving my result
lowers risk
raises risk
Local demand is declining
Task: Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
Task: Study blueprints to determine locations, relationships, or dimensions of parts.
Lower-risk adjacent roles
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
53.2
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
60.9
Engine and Other Machine Assemblers
61.9
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
66.5
A full, ranked mitigation plan is part of the paid tiers.
How this score is calculated
Map Boilermakers to its standard O*NET task list (8 core tasks).
Score each task for AI/software exposure (Eloundou et al. 2023) and physical/robotics exposure (an O*NET work-context proxy), each 0 to 100.
The two axis scores are the task averages: AI 0.0, robotics 69.3.
The timeline comes from the higher axis (69.3), shifted for local demand (declining), and seniority. It is read against your remaining working years.
Ranges are about ±12 points. A backtest against real BLS employment change shows the risk ranking holds in aggregate, but individual outcomes are predicted weakly, so results are ranges, never a flat verdict.
Sources: O*NET, Eloundou et al. (2023), GPTs are GPTs, O*NET Work Context, BLS CPI-U, BLS OEWS.
Snapshot SNAPSHOT-2026-11-06. Full method and backtest on How it works.