Will millwrights be replaced by AI?
Updated
Millwrights score 12 of 100 for AI exposure. 94% of their task time still needs a person. AI speeds up the other 6%.
- 6% AI helps
- 94% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 93% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 23 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 2 and leaves 21 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Troubleshoot equipment, electrical components, hydraulics, or other mechanical systems. AI can aid fault diagnosis from manuals and symptoms. | 30% AI helps |
| Install robot and modify its program, using teach pendant. Robot programming aided by AI; physical installation remains human. | 25% AI helps |
| Position steel beams to support bedplates of machines and equipment, using blueprints and schematic drawings to determine work procedures. Drawing reading helps, but beam positioning is physical. | 18% Needs a person |
| Replace defective parts of machine, or adjust clearances and alignment of moving parts. Physical part replacement and clearance adjustment on live machinery. | 15% Needs a person |
| Conduct preventative maintenance and repair, and lubricate machines and equipment. Physical lubrication and repair; AI only helps with schedules. | 15% Needs a person |
| Level bedplate and establish centerline, using straightedge, levels, and transit. Physical leveling with transit and straightedge; calculations minor. | 12% Needs a person |
| Operate engine lathe to grind, file, and turn machine parts to dimensional specifications. Lathe machining is hands-on; AI helps only with setup. | 12% Needs a person |
| Align machines or equipment, using hoists, jacks, hand tools, squares, rules, micrometers, lasers, or plumb bobs. Physical alignment with jacks, hoists, lasers and tools. | 10% Needs a person |
| Insert shims, adjust tension on nuts and bolts, or position parts, using hand tools and measuring instruments, to set specified clearances between moving and stationary parts. Shimming and tightening require hands on physical work. | 10% Needs a person |
| Lay out mounting holes, using measuring instruments, and drill holes with power drill. Marking and drilling mounting holes is physical work. | 10% Needs a person |
Show the other 13 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Weld, repair, and fabricate equipment or machinery. Welding and fabrication are hands-on physical skills. | 10% Needs a person |
| Connect power unit to machines or steam piping to equipment, and test unit to evaluate its mechanical operation. Physical connections and hands-on mechanical testing of units. | 10% Needs a person |
| Signal crane operator to lower basic assembly units to bedplate, and align unit to centerline. Live crane signaling and physical unit placement. | 8% Needs a person |
| Assemble and install equipment, using hand tools and power tools. Installing equipment with power and hand tools on site. | 8% Needs a person |
| Assemble machines, and bolt, weld, rivet, or otherwise fasten them to foundation or other structures, using hand tools and power tools. Bolting and welding machines to foundations physically. | 8% Needs a person |
| Fabricate and dismantle parts, equipment, and machines, using a cutting torch or other cutting equipment. Cutting torch work is physical and hands-on. | 8% Needs a person |
| Attach moving parts and subassemblies to basic assembly unit, using hand tools and power tools. Physically attaching moving parts with hand and power tools. | 6% Needs a person |
| Construct foundation for machines, using hand tools and building materials such as wood, cement, and steel. Foundation construction with tools and materials is physical. | 6% Needs a person |
| Move machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks. Moving heavy machinery with hoists and dollies physically. | 5% Needs a person |
| Dismantle machines, using hammers, wrenches, crowbars, and other hand tools. Physical dismantling with hammers, wrenches and crowbars. | 5% Needs a person |
| Bolt parts, such as side and deck plates, jaw plates, and journals, to basic assembly unit. Physically bolting heavy plates to assembly units. | 5% Needs a person |
| Dismantle machinery and equipment for shipment to installation site, performing installation and maintenance work as part of team. Physical dismantling and team installation work on site. | 5% Needs a person |
| Shrink-fit bushings, sleeves, rings, liners, gears, and wheels to specified items, using portable gas heating equipment. Shrink-fitting with portable gas heat is hands-on work. | 4% Needs a person |
How millwrights compare
All occupations (923)
Installation, maintenance and repair (50)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $65,700 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 40,330 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +0.9% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Read AutoCAD and SolidWorks drawings for millwright layouts
- Level bedplates and set centerlines with transit and straightedge
- Shrink-fit gears and bushings with portable gas heating equipment
- Program robot motion using a teach pendant
- Troubleshoot hydraulics and electrical faults on live machinery
- Log maintenance schedules and parts in SAP and Excel
Safer roles nearby
3 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about millwrights and AI
Will AI replace millwrights?
Unlikely. About 1 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly troubleshooting mechanical faults and programming robots with a teach pendant. Moving, dismantling, and aligning machinery still needs a person with hand and power tools on site.
Which millwright tasks is AI taking over?
Troubleshooting equipment, electrical components, and hydraulics is the most exposed task, with an exposure score of 30, because AI can match symptoms to fault patterns in manuals. Robot programming scores 25, and AI can draft program steps while the physical install stays with the millwright. Both are augment tasks, so AI assists the worker who still does the hands-on work.
Which millwright tasks stay human?
Shrink-fitting, moving, dismantling, and bolting stay with people, with exposure scores of 4 to 6. These tasks use portable gas heat, hoists, dollies, hammers, and crowbars on heavy physical machinery, and no software can hold a heavy plate in place. Preventive maintenance and lubrication, at an exposure score of 15, also stay human because the work happens manually on the machine.
How can millwrights stay valuable as AI spreads?
Build hands-on depth in the tasks that stay human, such as leveling bedplates with transit and straightedge and shrink-fitting gears. Learn to read AutoCAD and SolidWorks drawings so you can set layouts before the crew arrives. Get trained on teach pendant robot programming, and log maintenance schedules and parts in SAP and Excel to show your work.
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