Will potters be replaced by AI?
Updated
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 |
| Start machine units and conveyors and observe lights and gauges on panel board to verify operational efficiency. Starting machines and reading panels; monitoring could be automated. | 20% Needs a person |
| Adjust pressures, temperatures, and trimming tool settings as required. Physical machine adjustments; control systems automate some settings. | 18% Needs a person |
| Operate gas or electric kilns to fire pottery pieces. Physical loading and monitoring; kiln controllers automate only part. | 15% Needs a person |
| Pack and ship pottery to stores or galleries for retail sale. Physical packing; shipping paperwork is the only AI assisted part. | 15% Needs a person |
| Operate drying chambers to dry or finish molded ceramic ware. Drying chamber operation is mostly physical; controls partly automated. | 15% Needs a person |
Show the other 13 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Examine finished ware for defects and measure dimensions, using rule and thickness gauge. Physical defect inspection and gauge measurement; vision aids limited. | 12% Needs a person |
| Teach pottery classes. Live in person teaching; AI only helps lesson planning. | 12% Needs a person |
| Mix and apply glazes to pottery pieces, using tools, such as spray guns. Spraying glazes is physical work needing hands on judgment. | 10% Needs a person |
| Verify accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using calipers and templates. Calipers and templates need physical handling and in person checks. | 10% Needs a person |
| Operate pug mills to blend and extrude clay. Pug mill loading and monitoring is physical machine operation. | 8% Needs a person |
| Adjust wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner. Adjusting speed by feel of clay requires tactile judgment. | 4% Needs a person |
| Attach handles to pottery pieces. Attaching handles is delicate hands on work. | 4% Needs a person |
| Raise and shape clay into wares, such as vases and pitchers, on revolving wheels, using hands, fingers, and thumbs. Shaping clay manually on a wheel is pure physical skill. | 3% Needs a person |
| Move pieces from wheels so that they can dry. Physically moving fragile wet pieces to drying. | 3% Needs a person |
| Smooth surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges. Smoothing wet clay surfaces with sponges and scrapers is manual. | 3% Needs a person |
| Position balls of clay in centers of potters' wheels, and start motors or pump treadles with feet to revolve wheels. Physically centering clay and starting wheels with feet. | 2% Needs a person |
| Press thumbs into centers of revolving clay to form hollows, and press on the inside and outside of emerging clay cylinders with hands and fingers, gradually raising and shaping clay to desired forms and sizes. Forming hollows manually on revolving clay is physical skill. | 2% Needs a person |
| Pull wires through bases of articles and wheels to separate finished pieces. Physically wiring pieces off wheels requires hands on handling. | 2% Needs a person |
How potters compare
All jobs (923)
Production (107)
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.
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
Next steps for potters
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