Forensic Science Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 24% 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 27% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 73% of the time, stays with people.
Collect, identify, classify, and analyze physical evidence related to criminal investigations. Perform tests on weapons or substances, such as fiber, hair, and tissue to determine significance to investigation. May testify as expert witnesses on evidence or crime laboratory techniques. May serve as specialists in area of expertise, such as ballistics, fingerprinting, handwriting, or biochemistry.
19,120 people do this job in the US. $72,060 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 yet1 h
- Stays with people29 h
Forensic Science Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 10 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 29 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques (about 6 h); Analyze data from computers or other digital media sources for evidence related to criminal activity (about 2 h); Interpret laboratory findings or test results to identify and classify substances, materials, or other evidence collected at crime scenes (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.
- 27%
- 2%
- 71%
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, 11%. Today's estimate: 24%.
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 24 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0043% to 0.0047% (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 | 0.0043% | 625 of 708 | 2 of 24 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0047% | 590 of 703 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0025% | 607 of 655 | 1 of 24 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0044% | 585 of 672 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0019% | 650 of 677 | 1 of 24 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
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 63% of this job's working time as physical work. For 27% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 17% in a purpose-built cell, 11% in a structured facility. 0.38 of 3, the 353rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 37%
- No robot shown 36%
- In a purpose-built cell 17%
- In a structured facility 11%
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 . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Stays with people | |
| Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Analyze data from computers or other digital media sources for evidence related to criminal activity.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 69%Half by now | |
| Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Ortery Office Photo Machine / PhotoCapture 360 / 3D PhotoArm (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Collect impressions of dust from surfaces to obtain and identify fingerprints.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Visit morgues, examine scenes of crimes, or contact other sources to obtain evidence or information to be used in investigations.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate and maintain laboratory equipment and apparatus.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA KMR iiwa based) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Reconstruct crime scenes to determine relationships among pieces of evidence.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Train new technicians or other personnel on forensic science techniques.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 3% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Interpret laboratory findings or test results to identify and classify substances, materials, or other evidence collected at crime scenes.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Identify and quantify drugs or poisons found in biological fluids or tissues, in foods, or at crime scenes.Done more than monthly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Cascadion SM Clinical Analyzer (Immunosuppressants panel) (Thermo Fisher Scientific) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 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.
- Police Identification and Records Officers40% now, 41% by 2028
- Digital Forensics Analysts67% now, 98% by 2028
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators69% now, 74% by 2028
- Coroners44% now, 45% by 2028
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians17% now, 17% by 2028
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists24% now, 29% 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 Forensic Science Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 24% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 27% 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 Forensic 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: Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques (100% of the task's time now); Analyze data from computers or other digital media sources for evidence related to criminal activity (69% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Interpret laboratory findings or test results to identify and classify substances, materials, or other evidence collected at crime scenes (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Forensic Science Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases; Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity; and Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes. Together such tasks are about 73% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Forensic 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 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 Forensic Science Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 63% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 27% of the working time, 11% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.38 of 3. One example: Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA KMR iiwa based) for "operate and maintain laboratory equipment and apparatus". 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 24 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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