Clean objects.

Clean objects. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 6 occupations and seen in 7 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects. in Performing General Physical Activities .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 7 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Maintain, clean, or sterilize laboratory instruments or equipment. · Chemical Technicians · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Perform regular maintenance of laboratory equipment by inspecting, calibrating, cleaning, or sterilizing. · Food Science Technicians · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Clean, maintain and prepare supplies and work areas. · Biological Technicians · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Decontaminate objects by cleaning with soap or solvents or by abrading with wire brushes, buffing wheels, or sandblasting machines. · Nuclear Monitoring Technicians · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Decontaminate objects by cleaning them using soap or solvents or by abrading using brushes, buffing machines, or sandblasting machines. · Nuclear Technicians · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Clean, restore, and preserve artifacts. · Anthropologists and Archeologists · importance 3.4 · no direct exposure
• Apply solvents and cleaning agents to clean surfaces of paintings, and to remove accretions, discolorations, and deteriorated varnish. · Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators · importance 3.3 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Chemical Technicians
• Food Science Technicians
• Biological Technicians
• Nuclear Monitoring Technicians
• Anthropologists and Archeologists
• Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-clean-objects,
  title  = {Clean objects.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/clean-objects}
}