Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.

“Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.” is a core task performed by Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas. Among the occupation's 30 rated tasks, workers place it 12th by importance (#19 most important). About 70% 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.

• Operate lifting or moving equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

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: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Fabricate well casings. · importance 4.4
• Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills. · importance 4.4
• Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes. · importance 4.3
• Pour water into wells, or pump water or slush into wells to cool drill bits and to remove drillings. · importance 4.3
• Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled. · importance 4.3
• Select and attach drill bits and drill rods, adding more rods as hole depths increase, and changing drill bits as needed. · importance 4.3
• Drive or guide truck-mounted equipment into position, level and stabilize rigs, and extend telescoping derricks. · importance 4.2
• Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns. · importance 4.2
• Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes. · importance 4.2
• Place and install screens, casings, pumps, and other well fixtures to develop wells. · importance 4.1
• Verify depths and alignments of boring positions. · importance 4.1
• Perform routine maintenance and upgrade work on machines and equipment, such as replacing parts, building up drill bits, and lubricating machinery. · importance 4.1
• Select the appropriate drill for the job, using knowledge of rock or soil conditions. · importance 4.1
• Document geological formations encountered during work. · importance 4.1

See all tasks on the Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas 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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-13681,
  title  = {Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.},
  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/tasks/task-13681}
}