Animal Breeders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 33% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 67% of the time, stays with people.
Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. May require knowledge of artificial insemination techniques and equipment use. May involve keeping records on heats, birth intervals, or pedigree.
1,330 people do this job in the US. $51,130 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on13 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people27 h
Animal Breeders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 13 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 27 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics (about 10 h); Maintain logs of semen specimens used and animals bred (about 1 h); Arrange for sale of animals and eggs to hospitals, research centers, pet shops, and food processing plants (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 33%
- 0%
- 67%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 19%. Today's estimate: 33%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 21 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0047% to 0.0021% (released February and March 2025); 0.0035% to none (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0047% | 614 of 708 | 1 of 21 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0021% | 656 of 703 | 1 of 21 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0035% | 567 of 655 | 1 of 21 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 21 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 88% of this job's working time as physical work. For 50% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 7% in a purpose-built cell, 43% in a structured facility. 0.93 of 3, the 159th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 12%
- No robot shown 38%
- In a purpose-built cell 7%
- In a structured facility 43%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 21 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 26% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Lely Vector automatic feeding system (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Exercise animals to keep them in healthy condition.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Priefert Panel Walker / Lead Walker (automated horse exerciser) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Observe animals in heat to detect approach of estrus and exercise animals to induce or hasten estrus, if necessary.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Purchase and stock supplies of feed and medicines.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Stretch (Boston Dynamics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Inject prepared animal semen into female animals for breeding purposes, by inserting nozzle of syringe into vagina and depressing syringe plunger.Done yearly or less by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine animals to detect symptoms of illness or injury.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain logs of semen specimens used and animals bred.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Exhibit animals at shows.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 6.7 h3.3 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Bathe and groom animals.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Arrange for sale of animals and eggs to hospitals, research centers, pet shops, and food processing plants.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Build hutches, pens, and fenced yards.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals2% now, 2% by 2028
- Animal Caretakers4% now, 5% by 2028
- Animal Trainers1% now, 1% by 2028
- Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers17% now, 17% by 2028
- Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers36% now, 45% by 2028
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Animal Breeders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 33% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 33% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Animal Breeders come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics (99% of the task's time now); Maintain logs of semen specimens used and animals bred (100% of the task's time now); and Arrange for sale of animals and eggs to hospitals, research centers, pet shops, and food processing plants (99% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Animal Breeders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches; Exercise animals to keep them in healthy condition; and Observe animals in heat to detect approach of estrus and exercise animals to induce or hasten estrus, if necessary. Together such tasks are about 67% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Animal Breeders?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Animal Breeders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 88% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 50% of the working time, 43% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.93 of 3. One example: Lely Vector automatic feeding system for "feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 21 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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