AI exposure: Chemical Technicians
Conduct chemical and physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative and quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, and gaseous materials for research and development of new products or processes, quality control, maintenance of environmental standards, and other work involving experimental, theoretical, or practical application of chemistry and related sciences.
Reading this score
computedAt 23.9% of weighted task load, Chemical Technicians sits at the 45th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 58.3% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 16 tasks it averages 1.75 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Write technical reports or prepare graphs or charts to document experimental results, at 73.3%. The least is Provide and maintain a safe work environment by participating in safety programs, committees,..., at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within life, physical and social science occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 36.3% across the group's 60 roles, with 47 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 16 tasks, 5 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.66 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.75 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.00 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.09 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.69 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.69 | 0-3 |
Task by task
16 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write technical reports or prepare graphs or charts to document experimental results. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.87 | exposed |
| Compile and interpret results of tests and analyses. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Order and inventory materials to maintain supplies. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Design or fabricate experimental apparatus to develop new products or processes. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.38 | exposed |
| Develop new chemical engineering processes or production techniques. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.03 | exposed |
| Provide technical support or assistance to chemists or engineers. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.17 | assisted |
| Conduct chemical or physical laboratory tests to assist scientists in making qualitative or quantitative analyses of solids, liquids, or gaseous materials. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.52 | assisted |
| Prepare chemical solutions for products or processes, following standardized formulas, or create experimental formulas. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Monitor product quality to ensure compliance with standards and specifications. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Operate experimental pilot plants, assisting with experimental design. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 3.71 | untouched |
| Develop or conduct programs of sampling and analysis to maintain quality standards of raw materials, chemical intermediates, or products. | 10.8% | 14.2% | 75.0% | 4.06 | untouched |
| Set up and conduct chemical experiments, tests, and analyses, using techniques such as chromatography, spectroscopy, physical or chemical separation techniques, or microscopy. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Train new employees on topics such as the proper operation of laboratory equipment. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Direct or monitor other workers producing chemical products. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.59 | untouched |
| Maintain, clean, or sterilize laboratory instruments or equipment. | 7.5% | 5.0% | 87.5% | 4.44 | untouched |
| Provide and maintain a safe work environment by participating in safety programs, committees, or teams and by conducting laboratory or plant safety audits. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.