Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 15% 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 55% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 34% of the time, stays with people.
Apply knowledge of engineering, biology, chemistry, computer science, and biomechanical principles to the design, development, and evaluation of biological, agricultural, and health systems and products, such as artificial organs, prostheses, instrumentation, medical information systems, and health management and care delivery systems.
23,480 people do this job in the US. $109,370 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on6 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet20 h
- Stays with people14 h
Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 6 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 20 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 14 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Manage teams of engineers by creating schedules, tracking inventory, creating or using budgets, or overseeing contract obligations or deadlines (about 2 h); Prepare technical reports, data summary documents, or research articles for scientific publication, regulatory submissions, or patent applications (about 1 h); Write documents describing protocols, policies, standards for use, maintenance, and repair of medical equipment (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.
- 66%
- 14%
- 20%
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 15%.
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, 0.011% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 357th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 1 of its 30 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.075% to 0.086% (released February and March 2025); 0.095% to 0.084% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.011% to 0.011% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.075% | 216 of 708 | 10 of 30 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.086% | 178 of 703 | 10 of 30 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.095% | 162 of 655 | 7 of 30 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.086% | 170 of 672 | 7 of 30 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.084% | 184 of 677 | 6 of 30 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 341 of 434 | 1 of 30 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.011% | 357 of 447 | 1 of 30 |
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 10% of this job's working time as physical work. For 10% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 10% in a purpose-built cell. 0.10 of 3, the 523rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 90%
- In a purpose-built cell 10%
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 . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare technical reports, data summary documents, or research articles for scientific publication, regulatory submissions, or patent applications.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.7 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | 49%Half by now | |
| Develop statistical models or simulations, using statistical or modeling software.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | 15%Half by Oct 2027 | |
| Conduct research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists, on the engineering aspects of the biological systems of humans and animals.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Maholo LabDroid + Bayesian optimization AI (RIKEN / Robotic Biology Institute) (RIKEN, Robotic Biology Institute) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 4.2 work days2.1 work days to 3.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Adapt or design computer hardware or software for medical science uses.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work weeks | 5%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Develop models or computer simulations of human biobehavioral systems to obtain data for measuring or controlling life processes.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work weeks | 5%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Design or conduct follow-up experimentation, based on generated data, to meet established process objectives.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (Burger et al., Nature 583, 237) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Design or direct bench or pilot production experiments to determine the scale of production methods that optimize product yield and minimize production costs.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.2 work months | Stays with people | |
| Design or develop medical diagnostic or clinical instrumentation, equipment, or procedures, using the principles of engineering and biobehavioral sciences.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 2 work weeks2.5 work days to 1.6 work months | 1%Half by Sep 2028 | |
| Manage teams of engineers by creating schedules, tracking inventory, creating or using budgets, or overseeing contract obligations or deadlines.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 7% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Develop bioremediation processes to reduce pollution, protect the environment, or treat waste products.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.4 work months | 0%Half by Jan 2029 | |
| Develop methodologies for transferring procedures or biological processes from laboratories to commercial-scale manufacturing production.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.5 work months | 1%Half by Aug 2028 | |
| Write documents describing protocols, policies, standards for use, maintenance, and repair of medical equipment.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1 work day3.3 h to 3.1 work days | 61%Half by now |
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.
- Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians18% now, 19% by 2028
- Nanosystems Engineers7% now, 64% by 2028
- Bioinformatics Scientists25% now, 85% by 2028
- Biochemists and Biophysicists11% now, 61% by 2028
- Molecular and Cellular Biologists18% now, 40% by 2028
- Bioinformatics Technicians49% now, 93% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
- Scientific Research and Development Services5,360 people
- Medical Equipment and Supplies Manufacturing2,460 people
- Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing2,010 people
- Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing1,870 people
- Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools1,620 people
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 Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 15% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 55% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (37% to 64% across the three paces the site shows). 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 Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 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: Manage teams of engineers by creating schedules, tracking inventory, creating or using budgets, or overseeing contract obligations or deadlines (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Prepare technical reports, data summary documents, or research articles for scientific publication, regulatory submissions, or patent applications (49% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Write documents describing protocols, policies, standards for use, maintenance, and repair of medical equipment (61% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Conduct research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists, on the engineering aspects of the biological systems of humans and animals; Design or conduct follow-up experimentation, based on generated data, to meet established process objectives; and Design or direct bench or pilot production experiments to determine the scale of production methods that optimize product yield and minimize production costs. Together such tasks are about 34% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.011% went to this job's tasks, the 357th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 1 of its 30 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 13%. 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 Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 10% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 10% of the working time. Its index is 0.10 of 3. One example: Maholo LabDroid + Bayesian optimization AI (RIKEN / Robotic Biology Institute) for "conduct research, along with life scientists, chemists, and medical scientists, on the engineering aspects of the biological systems of humans and animals". 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 30 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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