AI exposure: Biochemists and Biophysicists
Study the chemical composition or physical principles of living cells and organisms, their electrical and mechanical energy, and related phenomena. May conduct research to further understanding of the complex chemical combinations and reactions involved in metabolism, reproduction, growth, and heredity. May determine the effects of foods, drugs, serums, hormones, and other substances on tissues and vital processes of living organisms.
Reading this score
computed29.6% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Biochemists and Biophysicists at the 53th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.0 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 24 tasks it averages 2.29 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific..., at 73.3%. The least is Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects, 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 42 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 24 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 13 assisted and 5 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
24 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Share research findings by writing scientific articles or by making presentations at scientific conferences. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.70 | exposed |
| Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.37 | exposed |
| Prepare reports or recommendations, based upon research outcomes. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Design or perform experiments with equipment, such as lasers, accelerators, or mass spectrometers. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.22 | exposed |
| Develop or test new drugs or medications intended for commercial distribution. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.44 | exposed |
| Develop methods to process, store, or use foods, drugs, or chemical compounds. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.25 | exposed |
| Study physical principles of living cells or organisms and their electrical or mechanical energy, applying methods and knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or biology. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.45 | assisted |
| Develop new methods to study the mechanisms of biological processes. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.40 | assisted |
| Study spatial configurations of submicroscopic molecules, such as proteins, using x-rays or electron microscopes. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.95 | assisted |
| Study the chemistry of living processes, such as cell development, breathing and digestion, or living energy changes, such as growth, aging, or death. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.88 | assisted |
| Research the chemical effects of substances, such as drugs, serums, hormones, or food, on tissues or vital processes. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.69 | assisted |
| Research transformations of substances in cells, using atomic isotopes. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.60 | assisted |
| Examine the molecular or chemical aspects of immune system functioning. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.31 | assisted |
| Research how characteristics of plants or animals are carried through successive generations. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.29 | assisted |
| Investigate the nature, composition, or expression of genes or research how genetic engineering can impact these processes. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.25 | assisted |
| Determine the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.20 | assisted |
| Develop or execute tests to detect diseases, genetic disorders, or other abnormalities. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.50 | assisted |
| Isolate, analyze, or synthesize vitamins, hormones, allergens, minerals, or enzymes and determine their effects on body functions. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.33 | assisted |
| Study the mutations in organisms that lead to cancer or other diseases. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 3.71 | assisted |
| Prepare pharmaceutical compounds for commercial distribution. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.75 | untouched |
| Produce pharmaceutically or industrially useful proteins, using recombinant DNA technology. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.18 | untouched |
| Teach or advise undergraduate or graduate students or supervise their research. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.53 | untouched |
| Manage laboratory teams or monitor the quality of a team's work. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Design or build laboratory equipment needed for special research projects. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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 | 2.04 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.69 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.44 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.15 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.90 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.29 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
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.