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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Political Scientists?
Task-level automation exposure for Political Scientists: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
57%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$142,080 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
5,540 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-2.0%
employment change
400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 13 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$74,560 – $153,380
Highest medians
Maryland $153,380
District of Columbia $152,530
Washington $147,060
Pennsylvania $140,020
Massachusetts $133,930
Lowest medians
New Hampshire $74,560
Michigan $86,290
Illinois $103,780
Arizona $108,770
Texas $114,050
State figures come from the 19-3094 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 57%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 76%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 11%
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 8/100
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
14 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) 39%
5 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 61%
9 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 0%
0 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
#5515 · Core · 55% automatable
Teach political science.
text generation — Instruction content AI-assisted; live teaching human
Instruct college students in social sciences or humanities disciplines.
#5519 · Core · 82% automatable
Maintain current knowledge of government policy decisions.
information retrieval — AI can search and summarize literature, human curates
Review professional literature to maintain professional knowledge.
#5518 · Core · 40% automatable
Develop and test theories, using information from interviews, newspapers, periodicals, case law, historical papers, polls, or statistical sources.
decision support — Physical theory needs expert scientific judgment
Develop theories or models of physical phenomena.
#5516 · Core · 72% automatable
Disseminate research results through academic publications, written reports, or public presentations.
text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery
Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
#23949 · Core · 60% automatable
Advise political science students.
interpersonal — Career guidance drafted; mentor relationship human
Advise students on academic or career matters. Advise others on educational matters.
#5520 · Core · 70% automatable
Collect, analyze, and interpret data, such as election results and public opinion surveys, reporting on findings, recommendations, and conclusions.
data analysis — Interprets data; domain expert validates meaning
Interpret research or operational data.
#5521 · Core · 45% automatable
Interpret and analyze policies, public issues, legislation, or the operations of governments, businesses, and organizations.
data analysis — Analysis aided; study design and fieldwork human
Conduct research on social issues.
#5517 · Core · 52% automatable
Identify issues for research and analysis.
decision support — Social research plans drafted; rigor human-owned
Plan social sciences research.
#23950 · Core · 35% automatable
Serve on committees.
interpersonal — Committee service requires presence, negotiation, accountability
Serve on institutional or departmental committees.
#5524 · Core · 55% automatable
Forecast political, economic, and social trends.
data analysis — Forecasting is uncertain; human judgment on drivers
Forecast economic, political, or social trends.
#5525 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Consult with and advise government officials, civic bodies, research agencies, the media, political parties, and others concerned with political issues.
decision support — Policy analysis drafted; political judgment human
Advise others on matters of public policy.
#5522 · Supplemental · 57% automatable
Evaluate programs and policies, and make related recommendations to institutions and organizations.
decision support — Policy analysis aided, but civic judgment is human
Evaluate civic projects or public policies. Advise others on matters of public policy.
#5526 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Provide media commentary or criticism related to public policy and political issues and events.
interpersonal — Public presentation is live human performance
Present information to the public.
#5523 · Supplemental · 70% automatable
Write drafts of legislative proposals, and prepare speeches, correspondence, and policy papers for governmental use.
text generation — Draft legal/regulatory docs; human verifies
Prepare information or documentation related to legal or regulatory matters.
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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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