Select project materials.

Select project materials. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 7 occupations and seen in 8 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 8 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 6 (75%) 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.

• Select loads or materials according to weight and size specifications. · Hoist and Winch Operators · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Select appropriate radio frequency identification device (RFID) tags and determine placement locations. · Radio Frequency Identification Device Specialists · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Identify materials appropriate for mechatronic system designs. · Mechatronics Engineers · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Select hardware and material, assuring compliance with specifications and product requirements. · Computer Hardware Engineers · importance 3.7 · exposure with tools
• Select electromechanical equipment, materials, components, or systems to meet functional specifications. · Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians · importance 3.6 · direct LLM exposure
• Identify and select appropriate sustainable materials for use in landscape designs, such as recycled wood or recycled concrete boards for structural elements or recycled tires for playground bedding. · Landscape Architects · importance 3.5 · exposure with tools
• Select cleaning materials, tools, or equipment. · Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians · no direct exposure
• Select material quantities or processing methods needed to achieve efficient production. · Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians · exposure with tools

Occupations that perform this

• Hoist and Winch Operators
• Radio Frequency Identification Device Specialists
• Mechatronics Engineers
• Computer Hardware Engineers
• Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians
• Landscape Architects
• Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians

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-select-project-materials,
  title  = {Select project materials.},
  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/select-project-materials}
}