# Will potters be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Potters score 16 out of 100 for AI exposure. 79% of their task time needs a person. AI helps with the other 21%. - **21%** AI helps - **79%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 87% of the 923 jobs we scored. ## Task by task We graded 23 tasks, most exposed first. AI can't fully do any of them yet. It helps with 5 and leaves 18 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Maintain supplies of tools, equipment, and materials, and order additional supplies as needed. Supply ordering and tracking is digital; stock checks are physical. | 45% AI helps | | Design clay forms and molds, and decorations for forms. AI image tools can suggest forms and decorations; hand making stays human. | 40% AI helps | | Prepare work for sale or exhibition, and maintain relationships with retail, pottery, art, and resource networks that can facilitate sale or exhibition of work. Gallery networking is human, but sales writing and planning can be AI assisted. | 35% AI helps | | Design spaces to display pottery for sale. AI can help generate display layouts, but installation is physical. | 30% AI helps | | Perform test-fires of pottery to determine how to achieve specific colors and textures. Test firing is physical, but AI can plan and log glaze tests. | 25% AI helps | ## How potters compare All jobs (923) Production (107) The dark line is **potters, at 16**. Each dot is a score, and darker dots mean more jobs share it. The short marks are the averages, 37 for all jobs and 22 for production. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $46,170 a year, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +5.8% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Order clay, glaze and kiln supplies in Inventory control software - Track glaze test results and firing logs in Microsoft Excel - Shape clay manually on a potter's wheel - Trim, wire off and dry wet pieces manually - Build retail and gallery relationships through Microsoft Outlook correspondence - Set up display layouts for gallery and studio sales ## Safer roles nearby 5 related jobs with lower scores. - [Molders15 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/molders/) - [Foundry mold makers7 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/foundry-mold-makers/) - [Seamstresses14 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/seamstresses/) - [Refractory materials repairers9 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/refractory-materials-repairers/) - [Metal casters9 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/metal-casters/) ## Questions about potters and AI Will AI replace potters? Partly. About 1 in 10 of a potter's working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly supply ordering and tracking and planning display or sales material. Shaping clay on the wheel, centering, wiring pieces off and smoothing wet surfaces stay with people because they need hands on wet clay. Which potter tasks is AI taking over? Supply ordering is the most exposed task, with an exposure score of 45, because orders and stock records are digital. Form and decoration design comes next at 40, since AI image tools can suggest shapes and patterns. Sales writing and gallery planning, at 35, can also be drafted with AI help. Which potter tasks stay human? Wheel work stays human, with the centering, shaping, hollowing and wiring tasks each scoring just 2 or 3 on exposure. These tasks need hands on wet clay that changes under pressure, which no software can feel. Moving fragile wet pieces to drying and smoothing surfaces with sponges also stay with people. How can potters stay valuable as AI spreads? Keep the wheel and hand-finishing skills sharp, since those tasks carry most of the job's weight. Use Inventory control software and Excel to log glaze tests and stock, which frees time for throwing. Build gallery and retail relationships through Outlook, because buyers still choose work they have seen in person. ## Related jobs - [Jewelers24 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jewelers/) - [Craft artists39 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/craft-artists/) - [Industrial painters16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industrial-painters/) - [Stone cutters16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/stone-cutters/) ## Next steps for potters - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV to see which tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) - ### Estimate team savings The score is per person. Add headcount and salary to see the hours AI can take on in a team of potters, and what they cost. [Estimate what AI saves a team of potters](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/team-ai-audit/?role=potters) [Work out the return on automation](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-savings-calculator/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Roustabouts score lowest, at 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Pediatric surgeons earn a median $559,030 and score 29.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Roustabouts need little prior training and score 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**AI helps with 98% of the task time for health informatics specialists.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we score, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 job groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Sources and licences Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.