Will AI replace gem and diamond workers?
Unlikely. Most of the work is hard for today's AI to speed up. Gem and Diamond Workers score 23 out of 100 (moderate exposure), #612 of 923 US jobs. AI could speed up 8 of the job's 22 tasks, 0 of them on its own, while 14 see little or no speed-up. Exposure means the work is likely to change, not that the job will disappear.
Which gem and diamond workers tasks can AI do?
The most exposed tasks include "Assign polish, symmetry, and clarity grades to stones, according to established grading systems"; "Estimate wholesale and retail value of gems, following pricing guides, market fluctuations, and other relevant economic factors"; "Examine gem surfaces and internal structures, using polariscopes, refractometers, microscopes, and other optical instruments, to differentiate between stones, to identify rare specimens, or to detect flaws, defects, or peculiarities affecting gem values".
Which gem and diamond workers tasks are hardest for AI?
Tasks with little or no AI speed-up include "Examine gems during processing to ensure accuracy of angles and positions of cuts or bores, using magnifying glasses, loupes, or shadowgraphs"; "Immerse stones in prescribed chemical solutions to determine specific gravities and key properties of gemstones or substitutes"; "Hold stones, gems, dies, or styluses against rotating plates, wheels, saws, or slitters to cut, shape, slit, grind, or polish them".
Are people already using AI for this work?
Not much yet. None of the job's tasks showed up in real conversations with Claude in April–May 2026, according to the Anthropic Economic Index.
How many people work as gem and diamond workers, and what do they earn?
About 22,440 people in the US (figure for Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers), with median pay of $52,540 a year (BLS, May 2025).