Select production input materials.

Select production input materials. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 20 occupations and seen in 20 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Select materials or equipment for operations or projects. in Making Decisions and Solving Problems .

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 20 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 3 (15%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 1 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.002% per task.

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.

• Select thread, twine, cord, or yarn to be used, and thread needles. · Sewers, Hand · importance 4.8 · no direct exposure
• Select and measure or weigh ingredients, using English or metric measures and balance scales. · Food Batchmakers · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Select and mix ingredients to prepare coating substances according to specifications, using paddles or mechanical mixers. · Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Select and load materials such as workpieces, objects, and machine parts onto equipment used in coiling processes. · Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Select and acquire metals and gems for designs. · Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Determine product specifications and materials, work methods, and machine setup requirements, according to blueprints, oral or written instructions, drawings, or work orders. · Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing · importance 4.2 · exposure with tools
• Determine types and quantities of glass required to fabricate products. · Glass Blowers, Molders, Benders, and Finishers · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Select precut fiberglass mats, cloth, and wood-bracing materials as required by projects being assembled. · Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Select and place spools of thread or pre-wound bobbins into shuttles, or onto spindles or loupers of stitching machines. · Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Select supplies such as fasteners and thread, according to job requirements. · Sewing Machine Operators · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Select wooden stock, determine layouts, and mark layouts of parts on stock, using precision equipment such as scribers, squares, and protractors. · Model Makers, Wood · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Select appropriate finishing ingredients such as paint, stain, lacquer, shellac, or varnish, depending on factors such as wood hardness and surface type. · Furniture Finishers · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Select metals to be used from a range of metals and alloys, based on properties such as hardness or heat tolerance. · Tool and Die Makers · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Select saw blades, types or grades of stock, or cutting procedures to be used, according to work orders or supervisors' instructions. · Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Select the proper coolants and lubricants and start their flow. · Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Select lumber to be used for patterns. · Patternmakers, Wood · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Select coolants and lubricants, and start their flow. · Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Select materials and patterns, and trace patterns onto materials to be cut out. · Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers · importance 3.6 · exposure with tools
• Specify inputs accessed by the system and plan the distribution and use of the results. · Computer Systems Analysts · importance 3.5 · direct LLM exposure
• Select pattern materials such as wood, resin, and fiberglass. · Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic · importance 3.0 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Sewers, Hand
• Food Batchmakers
• Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
• Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers
• Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
• Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
• Glass Blowers, Molders, Benders, and Finishers
• Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
• Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
• Sewing Machine Operators
• Model Makers, Wood
• Furniture Finishers
• Tool and Die Makers
• Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
• Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Patternmakers, Wood
• Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers
• Computer Systems Analysts
• Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic

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
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-select-production-input-materials,
  title  = {Select production input materials.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/select-production-input-materials}
}