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Histology Technicians

Prepare histological slides from tissue sections for microscopic examination and diagnosis by pathologists. May assist with research studies.

$62,930 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).

now
0%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 0%
  • 0%
  • 100%
n/a

Anthropic's data does not cover this job.

Half the desk work within reach
No desk work

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 0% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.

0%5%10%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 0% within reacho3, April 2025: 0% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 0% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 0% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 0% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 0% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 0% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 0% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 0% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

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.

The tasks

Sorted by . 8 tasks from .

TaskKind
Stain tissue specimens with dyes or other chemicals to make cell details visible under microscopes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 27%38 min17 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Maintain laboratory equipment, such as microscopes, mass spectrometers, microtomes, immunostainers, tissue processors, embedding centers, and water baths.Done daily by most who do it. 18%1.3 h25 min to 3.3 hStays with people
Embed tissue specimens into paraffin wax blocks, or infiltrate tissue specimens with wax.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 15%25 min13 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Archive diagnostic material, such as histologic slides and blocks.Done daily by most who do it. 14%38 min13 min to 1.7 hStays with people
Cut sections of body tissues for microscopic examination, using microtomes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 12%17 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Operate computerized laboratory equipment to dehydrate, decalcify, or microincinerate tissue samples.Done daily by most who do it. 8%33 min13 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Mount tissue specimens on glass slides.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%6 min3 min to 13 minStays with people
Freeze tissue specimens.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 2%10 min4 min to 25 minStays 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). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.