Will AI replace glass blowers, molders, benders, and finishers?

Not on current evidence. Less than 30 minutes of a typical shift goes to tasks that AI or robots are doing today. The other 8h (100%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 5.8% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. 11 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 2 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

8h of a typical shift, or 100%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Heat glass to pliable stage, using gas flames or ovens and rotating glass to heat it uniformly. (1h 11m a shift)
• Place glass into dies or molds of presses and control presses to form products, such as glassware components or optical blanks. (58m a shift)
• Blow tubing into specified shapes to prevent glass from collapsing, using compressed air or own breath, or blow and rotate gathers in molds or on boards to obtain final shapes. (58m a shift)
• Shape, bend, or join sections of glass, using paddles, pressing and flattening hand tools, or cork. (58m a shift)
• Design and create glass objects, using blowpipes and artisans' hand tools and equipment. (39m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 81% work in very hot or cold conditions at least weekly
• 65% spend more than half the day on their feet
• 60% say a mistake would be very or extremely serious

On Indeed, job postings in the Production & Manufacturing sector are at 124% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 12.6% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 5,100 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $46,170 a year ($22.20 an hour), 9% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $35,850 and $61,530 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 5.8% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 46,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 5,100 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 33,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.02% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 459th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 46,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is less than a high school diploma: about 43% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Quality Control Analysis, Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Monitoring
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 8h of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (29m touched, $54k median pay)
• Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (12m touched, $43k median pay)
• Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (3h 43m touched, $39k median pay)
• Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders (1h 42m touched, $52k median pay)
• Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic (1h 19m touched, $46k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 16 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.