Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.

“Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.” is a core task performed by Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining. Among the occupation's 16 rated tasks, workers place it 14th by importance (#3 most important). About 88% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise. in Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T1.

How AI is actually used on this kind of task

The Anthropic Economic Index observes how people actually use AI on tasks like this one across millions of real conversations.

• 0.002% share of AI-use records mapped to this task

Observed AI use describes people choosing to use AI as a tool on this kind of task today. It is augmentation and assistance, not a measure of jobs replaced.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Move levers, depress foot pedals, and turn dials to operate power machinery, such as power shovels, stripping shovels, scraper loaders, or backhoes. · importance 4.6
• Set up or inspect equipment prior to operation. · importance 4.6
• Observe hand signals, grade stakes, or other markings when operating machines so that work can be performed to specifications. · importance 4.4
• Operate machinery to perform activities such as backfilling excavations, vibrating or breaking rock or concrete, or making winter roads. · importance 4.2
• Receive written or oral instructions regarding material movement or excavation. · importance 4.0
• Direct workers engaged in placing blocks or outriggers to prevent capsizing of machines when lifting heavy loads. · importance 4.0
• Move materials over short distances, such as around a construction site, factory, or warehouse. · importance 4.0
• Measure and verify levels of rock or gravel, bases, or other excavated material. · importance 4.0
• Create or maintain inclines or ramps. · importance 3.9
• Lubricate, adjust, or repair machinery and replace parts, such as gears, bearings, or bucket teeth. · importance 3.9
• Direct ground workers engaged in activities such as moving stakes or markers, or changing positions of towers. · importance 3.8
• Adjust dig face angles for varying overburden depths and set lengths. · importance 3.7
• Handle slides, mud, or pit cleanings or maintenance. · importance 3.7
• Drive machines to work sites. · importance 3.7

See all tasks on the Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining page.

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-task-12780,
  title  = {Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.},
  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/tasks/task-12780}
}