AI exposure: Biological Technicians
Assist biological and medical scientists. Set up, operate, and maintain laboratory instruments and equipment, monitor experiments, collect data and samples, make observations, and calculate and record results. May analyze organic substances, such as blood, food, and drugs.
Reading this score
computedAt 23.8% of weighted task load, Biological Technicians sits at the 44th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 57.1% 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 18 tasks it averages 1.97 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 Place orders for laboratory equipment and supplies, at 80.0%. The least is Feed livestock or laboratory animals, at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% 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 48 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 18 tasks, 8 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 6 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 | 1.77 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.97 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.77 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.17 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.50 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.70 | 0-3 |
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place orders for laboratory equipment and supplies. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.46 | exposed |
| Input data into databases. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.27 | exposed |
| Keep detailed logs of all work-related activities. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Analyze experimental data and interpret results to write reports and summaries of findings. | 42.5% | 32.5% | 25.0% | 4.13 | exposed |
| Measure or weigh compounds and solutions for use in testing or animal feed. | 35.0% | 15.0% | 50.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Use computers, computer-interfaced equipment, robotics or high-technology industrial applications to perform work duties. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Participate in the research, development, or manufacturing of medicinal and pharmaceutical preparations. | 33.3% | 29.2% | 37.5% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Conduct or supervise operational programs, such as fish hatcheries, greenhouses and livestock production programs. | 31.1% | 27.2% | 41.7% | 4.08 | exposed |
| Provide technical support and services for scientists and engineers working in fields such as agriculture, environmental science, resource management, biology, and health sciences. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.72 | assisted |
| Conduct standardized biological, microbiological or biochemical tests and laboratory analyses to evaluate the quantity or quality of physical or chemical substances in food or other products. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.93 | assisted |
| Monitor and observe experiments, recording production and test data for evaluation by research personnel. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.42 | assisted |
| Monitor laboratory work to ensure compliance with set standards. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.18 | assisted |
| Examine animals and specimens to detect the presence of disease or other problems. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.37 | untouched |
| Isolate, identify and prepare specimens for examination. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.23 | untouched |
| Conduct research, or assist in the conduct of research, including the collection of information and samples, such as blood, water, soil, plants and animals. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Clean, maintain and prepare supplies and work areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.97 | untouched |
| Set up, adjust, calibrate, clean, maintain, and troubleshoot laboratory and field equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.96 | untouched |
| Feed livestock or laboratory animals. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.40 | 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.