Food Science Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 25% 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 75% of the time, stays with people.
Work with food scientists or technologists to perform standardized qualitative and quantitative tests to determine physical or chemical properties of food or beverage products. Includes technicians who assist in research and development of production technology, quality control, packaging, processing, and use of foods.
14,600 people do this job in the US. $52,130 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on10 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people30 h
Food Science Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 10 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 30 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies (about 3 h); Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables (about 3 h); Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports (about 2 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.
- 25%
- 0%
- 75%
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, 24%. Today's estimate: 25%.
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 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.091% to 0.13% (released February and March 2025); 0.1% to 0.053% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.091% | 181 of 708 | 4 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.13% | 125 of 703 | 5 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.1% | 152 of 655 | 3 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.064% | 210 of 672 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.053% | 243 of 677 | 5 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
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 67% of this job's working time as physical work. For 67% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 63% in a purpose-built cell, 4% in a structured facility. 0.71 of 3, the 258th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 33%
- In a purpose-built cell 63%
- In a structured facility 4%
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 . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supervise other food science technicians.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 18% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct standardized tests on food, beverages, additives, or preservatives to ensure compliance with standards and regulations regarding factors such as color, texture, or nutrients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, InMotion Pro / InMotion Max autosampler with Excellence titrators and meters (Mettler Toledo) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robi III (Eurofins / Elbatron); also Robi II and a metals/ICP-MS robot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Agr Gawis 4D with Gawis AF robotic handling (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Monitor and control temperature of products.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, In-line NIR interaction spectroscopy core-temperature monitor (Nofima) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Taste or smell foods or beverages to ensure that flavors meet specifications or to select samples with specific characteristics.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Alpha MOS HERACLES / HERACLES NEO electronic nose with autosampler (AlphaSoft) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Compute moisture or salt content, percentages of ingredients, formulas, or other product factors, using mathematical and chemical procedures.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Perform regular maintenance of laboratory equipment by inspecting, calibrating, cleaning, or sterilizing.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, METTLER TOLEDO Robotic Mass Comparators (Mettler-Toledo) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine chemical or biological samples to identify cell structures or to locate bacteria or extraneous material, using a microscope.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, TBDx automated digital microscopy system (Applied Visual Sciences / Signature Mapping) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 33 min17 min to 1.1 h | 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.
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 Food Science Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 25% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 25% 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 Food Science Technicians 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: Maintain records of testing results or other documents as required by state or other governing agencies (100% of the task's time now); Analyze test results to classify products or compare results with standard tables (100% of the task's time now); and Record or compile test results or prepare graphs, charts, or reports (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Food Science Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Supervise other food science technicians; Conduct standardized tests on food, beverages, additives, or preservatives to ensure compliance with standards and regulations regarding factors such as color, texture, or nutrients; and Provide assistance to food scientists or technologists in research and development, production technology, or quality control. Together such tasks are about 75% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Food Science Technicians?
- 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 20%. 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 Food Science Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 67% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 67% of the working time, 4% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.71 of 3. One example: Agr Gawis 4D with Gawis AF robotic handling for "measure, test, or weigh bottles, cans, or other containers to ensure that hardness, strength, or dimensions meet specifications". 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 16 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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