Chemical Engineers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 19% 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 70% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 17% of the time, stays with people.
Design chemical plant equipment and devise processes for manufacturing chemicals and products, such as gasoline, synthetic rubber, plastics, detergents, cement, paper, and pulp, by applying principles and technology of chemistry, physics, and engineering.
21,070 people do this job in the US. $125,040 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on8 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet25 h
- Stays with people7 h
Chemical Engineers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 8 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 25 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 7 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Monitor and analyze data from processes and experiments (about 3 h); Evaluate chemical equipment and processes to identify ways to optimize performance or to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations (about 2 h); Troubleshoot problems with chemical manufacturing processes (about 1 h).
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.
- 83%
- 0%
- 17%
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, 3%. Today's estimate: 19%.
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 14 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.026% to 0.021% (released February and March 2025); 0.0025% to 0.0019% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.026% | 401 of 708 | 4 of 14 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.021% | 408 of 703 | 4 of 14 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0025% | 605 of 655 | 1 of 14 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.011% | 461 of 672 | 5 of 14 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0019% | 649 of 677 | 1 of 14 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 14 |
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 7% of this job's working time as physical work. For 7% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 7% in a purpose-built cell. 0.07 of 3, the 558th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 93%
- In a purpose-built cell 7%
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 . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research to develop new and improved chemical manufacturing processes.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 15% | 3.3 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.4 work months | 0%Half by Jan 2029 | |
| Evaluate chemical equipment and processes to identify ways to optimize performance or to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Develop processes to separate components of liquids or gases or generate electrical currents, using controlled chemical processes.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 work weeks2.5 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 1%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Perform tests and monitor performance of processes throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables such as temperature, density, specific gravity, and pressure.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Design measurement and control systems for chemical plants based on data collected in laboratory experiments and in pilot plant operations.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 1%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Develop computer models of chemical processes.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 5%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Monitor and analyze data from processes and experiments.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 92%Half by now | |
| Perform laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and test proposed processes in small-scale operation, such as a pilot plant.Done yearly or less by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA mobile manipulator) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Design and plan layout of equipment.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 6% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | 10%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Troubleshoot problems with chemical manufacturing processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 67%Half by now | |
| Develop safety procedures to be employed by workers operating equipment or working in close proximity to ongoing chemical reactions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 3.3 work days | 36%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Determine most effective arrangement of operations such as mixing, crushing, heat transfer, distillation, and drying.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | 31%Half by Mar 2027 |
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.
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 Chemical Engineers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 19% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 70% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (45% to 81% 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 Chemical 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: Monitor and analyze data from processes and experiments (92% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Evaluate chemical equipment and processes to identify ways to optimize performance or to ensure compliance with safety and environmental regulations (31% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Troubleshoot problems with chemical manufacturing processes (67% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Chemical Engineers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Perform tests and monitor performance of processes throughout stages of production to determine degree of control over variables such as temperature, density, specific gravity, and pressure; Perform laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and test proposed processes in small-scale operation, such as a pilot plant; and Direct activities of workers who operate or are engaged in constructing and improving absorption, evaporation, or electromagnetic equipment. Together such tasks are about 17% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Chemical Engineers?
- 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 Chemical Engineers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 7% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 7% of the working time. Its index is 0.07 of 3. One example: Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA mobile manipulator) for "perform laboratory studies of steps in manufacture of new products and test proposed processes in small-scale operation, such as a pilot plant". 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 14 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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