Mark materials or objects for identification
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 10 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events (4.A.1.b.1) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 10 occupations that perform it.
- Collect artifacts made of stone, bone, metal, and other materials, placing them in bags and marking them to show where they were found.
- Perform on-site field work which may involve interviewing people, inspecting and identifying artifacts, note-taking, viewing sites and collections, and repainting exhibition spaces.
- Stencil identifying information on equipment.
- Post warning signs on vehicles containing explosives or flammable or radioactive materials.
- Affix identifying information to materials or products, using hand tools.
- Weigh materials or products and record weight or other production data on tags or labels.
- Attach identifying tags to containers or mark them with identifying information.
- Identify and mark materials, products, and samples, following instructions.
- Mark and label containers, container tags, or products, using marking tools.
- Copy and attach load specifications to loaded tanks.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
10 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Anthropologists and Archeologists
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
- Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers
- Museum Technicians and Conservators
- Packers and Packagers, Hand
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders
- Transportation Inspectors
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Mark materials or objects for identification”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.