AI exposure in life, physical and social science occupations
60 occupations, 1,236 tasks, scored against the capability frontier of 2026-09-15. This family ranks 9 of 22 by median exposed share.
Reading this family
computedThe median life, physical and social science occupation has 36.0% of its weighted task load in work current AI systems can already produce, which is 11.7 points above the median across every occupation in the index. Weighted by how many people actually do these jobs, the figure is 32.9%, across 1,465,820 US workers. 44 of these occupations fall in the exposed band, 2 in assisted and 14 in untouched.
What holds the line across this family is context, at 1.90 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions here. In plain terms the obstacle is knowing things a model cannot hold. The work runs on private, tacit or real-time organisational knowledge. This is the friction most likely to erode, because context is a plumbing problem rather than a law.
The spread inside the family is wider than the gap between families, which is the usual pattern and the reason this index does not publish a single number per group. Remote Sensing Technicians sits at 52.4%. Nuclear Technicians sits at 14.6%. Both are life, physical and social science occupations, and 37.7 points separate them.
Where the family score comes from
judgedMeans across all 1,236 tasks in this family. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.36 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.07 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.82 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.24 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.90 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.86 | 0-3 |
Every life, physical and social science occupation
See them on the chart| Occupation | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Median pay | Tasks | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Remote Sensing Technicians | 52.4% | 22.5% | 25.1% | $62,280 | 21 | exposed |
| Climate Change Policy Analysts | 52.1% | 29.7% | 18.2% | $82,220 | 14 | exposed |
| Social Science Research Assistants | 51.0% | 24.3% | 24.7% | $61,990 | 22 | exposed |
| Transportation Planners | 48.3% | 29.1% | 22.6% | $101,110 | 22 | exposed |
| Historians | 47.7% | 23.8% | 28.5% | $76,750 | 21 | exposed |
| Physicists | 47.6% | 22.3% | 30.1% | $172,250 | 16 | exposed |
| Environmental Economists | 47.5% | 27.0% | 25.4% | $124,720 | 20 | exposed |
| Precision Agriculture Technicians | 47.4% | 25.4% | 27.1% | $49,630 | 22 | exposed |
| Industrial Ecologists | 47.1% | 28.2% | 24.7% | $82,220 | 38 | exposed |
| Political Scientists | 46.1% | 23.7% | 30.2% | $142,080 | 14 | exposed |
| Urban and Regional Planners | 45.3% | 28.3% | 26.4% | $89,320 | 25 | exposed |
| Survey Researchers | 44.8% | 25.0% | 30.3% | $69,460 | 16 | exposed |
| Economists | 44.5% | 24.0% | 31.5% | $124,720 | 14 | exposed |
| Bioinformatics Scientists | 44.2% | 24.7% | 31.1% | $98,920 | 20 | exposed |
| Hydrologic Technicians | 43.3% | 22.3% | 34.4% | $64,790 | 16 | exposed |
| Atmospheric and Space Scientists | 42.9% | 25.6% | 31.5% | $99,070 | 27 | exposed |
| Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers | 42.6% | 24.5% | 32.9% | $101,920 | 32 | exposed |
| Animal Scientists | 42.6% | 27.0% | 30.5% | $68,940 | 9 | exposed |
| Remote Sensing Scientists and Technologists | 42.4% | 23.1% | 34.5% | $122,570 | 24 | exposed |
| Environmental Restoration Planners | 41.5% | 26.7% | 31.8% | $82,220 | 23 | exposed |
| Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health | 41.2% | 28.7% | 30.1% | $82,220 | 22 | exposed |
| Biologists | 40.0% | 24.2% | 35.8% | $98,920 | 22 | exposed |
| Industrial-Organizational Psychologists | 39.7% | 25.4% | 34.9% | $193,950 | 25 | exposed |
| Sociologists | 39.3% | 24.7% | 35.9% | $106,030 | 15 | exposed |
| Astronomers | 39.1% | 21.7% | 39.1% | $128,820 | 17 | exposed |
| Park Naturalists | 38.1% | 20.8% | 41.1% | $73,010 | 20 | exposed |
| Quality Control Analysts | 37.9% | 23.6% | 38.5% | $62,280 | 26 | exposed |
| Hydrologists | 37.6% | 25.2% | 37.2% | $96,600 | 25 | exposed |
| Materials Scientists | 36.7% | 23.2% | 40.1% | $117,790 | 16 | exposed |
| Epidemiologists | 36.3% | 28.8% | 34.9% | $87,220 | 16 | exposed |
| Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists | 35.8% | 24.7% | 39.6% | $76,780 | 14 | exposed |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | 35.7% | 27.1% | 37.2% | $78,850 | 27 | exposed |
| Geneticists | 35.7% | 24.5% | 39.8% | $98,920 | 24 | exposed |
| School Psychologists | 35.5% | 25.0% | 39.5% | $95,990 | 19 | exposed |
| Food Scientists and Technologists | 34.7% | 22.4% | 42.9% | $88,720 | 13 | exposed |
| Molecular and Cellular Biologists | 33.9% | 24.4% | 41.6% | $98,920 | 22 | exposed |
| Conservation Scientists | 33.5% | 26.4% | 40.1% | $73,010 | 30 | exposed |
| Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists | 32.6% | 28.5% | 38.9% | $103,410 | 14 | assisted |
| Geographers | 31.2% | 21.7% | 47.1% | $102,040 | 12 | exposed |
| Range Managers | 30.3% | 24.8% | 44.9% | $73,010 | 18 | exposed |
| Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health | 30.3% | 22.8% | 46.9% | $55,090 | 25 | exposed |
| Anthropologists and Archeologists | 29.9% | 23.1% | 46.9% | $70,770 | 30 | exposed |
| Biochemists and Biophysicists | 29.6% | 23.5% | 46.9% | $127,410 | 24 | exposed |
| Geological Technicians, Except Hydrologic Technicians | 29.3% | 21.3% | 49.4% | $53,350 | 29 | exposed |
| Clinical and Counseling Psychologists | 27.4% | 27.8% | 44.8% | $100,580 | 30 | assisted |
| Foresters | 27.2% | 25.0% | 47.8% | $76,400 | 25 | exposed |
| Chemists | 26.8% | 22.9% | 50.3% | $91,240 | 12 | untouched |
| Chemical Technicians | 23.9% | 17.8% | 58.3% | $60,390 | 16 | untouched |
| Biological Technicians | 23.8% | 19.1% | 57.1% | $57,510 | 18 | untouched |
| Forest and Conservation Technicians | 22.5% | 20.1% | 57.4% | $54,560 | 20 | untouched |
| Occupational Health and Safety Specialists | 22.0% | 24.4% | 53.6% | $90,150 | 22 | untouched |
| Microbiologists | 21.9% | 22.9% | 55.2% | $87,990 | 14 | untouched |
| Food Science Technicians | 20.7% | 18.6% | 60.7% | $52,130 | 16 | untouched |
| Occupational Health and Safety Technicians | 20.7% | 27.2% | 52.1% | $61,560 | 26 | untouched |
| Nuclear Monitoring Technicians | 19.8% | 16.7% | 63.5% | $110,240 | 16 | untouched |
| Agricultural Technicians | 19.5% | 15.2% | 65.3% | $49,630 | 26 | untouched |
| Neuropsychologists | 19.3% | 25.6% | 55.1% | $110,840 | 14 | untouched |
| Clinical Neuropsychologists | 16.8% | 27.2% | 56.0% | $110,840 | 18 | untouched |
| Forensic Science Technicians | 15.6% | 26.3% | 58.1% | $72,060 | 24 | untouched |
| Nuclear Technicians | 14.6% | 20.5% | 64.8% | $110,240 | 18 | untouched |
Exposure is not displacement. These figures say what current systems can produce and what stands in the way. They do not say anyone will stop paying a person to do the work. How the score is built.