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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Chemists?
Task-level automation exposure for Chemists: 12 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
38%
weighted task index
12 of 12 tasks scored
Median Salary
$91,240 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
82,770 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+6.4%
employment change
5,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$61,890 – $149,860
Highest medians
District of Columbia $149,860
Maryland $140,670
Delaware $129,860
New Mexico $126,960
Massachusetts $125,000
Lowest medians
Montana $61,890
Maine $64,440
South Dakota $67,440
Nebraska $74,890
Oklahoma $74,960
State figures come from the 19-2031 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 38%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 17%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 41%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 8%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 22/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
12 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 17%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 50%
6 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 33%
4 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#1506 · Core · 50% automatable
Develop, improve, or customize products, equipment, formulas, processes, or analytical methods.
decision support — AI aids product development; prototyping and testing human
Develop new or advanced products or production methods.
#1505 · Core · 35% automatable
Analyze organic or inorganic compounds to determine chemical or physical properties, composition, structure, relationships, or reactions, using chromatography, spectroscopy, or spectrophotometry techniques.
physical manipulation — Chemical analysis requires instruments and hands
Analyze chemical compounds or substances.
#1510 · Core · 35% automatable
Induce changes in composition of substances by introducing heat, light, energy, or chemical catalysts for quantitative or qualitative analysis.
physical manipulation — Chemical analysis requires instruments and hands
Analyze chemical compounds or substances.
#18475 · Core · 28% automatable
Conduct quality control tests.
visual inspection — Quality testing of materials is hands-on inspection
Test quality of materials or finished products.
#1511 · Core · 66% automatable
Write technical papers or reports or prepare standards and specifications for processes, facilities, products, or tests.
text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery
Establish standards for products, processes, or procedures. Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
#18474 · Core · 18% automatable
Maintain laboratory instruments to ensure proper working order and troubleshoot malfunctions when needed.
physical manipulation — Hands-on lab/technical equipment upkeep
Maintain laboratory or technical equipment.
#1513 · Core · 8% automatable
Prepare test solutions, compounds, or reagents for laboratory personnel to conduct tests.
physical manipulation — Physical solution preparation
Prepare compounds or solutions for products or testing.
#1507 · Core · 61% automatable
Compile and analyze test information to determine process or equipment operating efficiency or to diagnose malfunctions.
data analysis — Operational/research data analysis; human interprets
Analyze operational or research data. Analyze test or performance data to assess equipment operation. Diagnose equipment malfunctions.
#1508 · Core · 45% automatable
Confer with scientists or engineers to conduct analyses of research projects, interpret test results, or develop nonstandard tests.
interpersonal — Research collaboration is iterative human teamwork
Collaborate on research activities with scientists or technical specialists.
#20388 · Core · 45% automatable
Evaluate laboratory safety procedures to ensure compliance with standards or to make improvements as needed.
decision support — Conformance checking aided by AI, but on-site verification is human
Monitor operational procedures in technical environments to ensure conformance to standards.
#1509 · Core · 32% automatable
Direct, coordinate, or advise personnel in test procedures for analyzing components or physical properties of materials.
interpersonal — Technical supervision requires judgment and accountability
Supervise scientific or technical personnel.
#20389 · Core · 40% automatable
Purchase laboratory supplies, such as chemicals, when supplies are low or near their expiration date.
decision support — Resource management aided by AI but human accountable
Manage scientific or technical project resources.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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