Histology Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% 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 100% of the time, stays with people.
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).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Histology Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
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.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
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, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
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
None of this job's 8 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 91% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 84% in a purpose-built cell, 7% in a structured facility. 0.97 of 3, the 132nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 9%
- In a purpose-built cell 84%
- In a structured facility 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 . 8 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stain tissue specimens with dyes or other chemicals to make cell details visible under microscopes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Leica HistoCore SPECTRA ST automated slide stainer (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 27% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays 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. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Embed tissue specimens into paraffin wax blocks, or infiltrate tissue specimens with wax.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sakura Tissue-Tek AutoTEC a120 + Paraform Sectionable Cassette System (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 15% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Archive diagnostic material, such as histologic slides and blocks.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automated Glass Slide Archive System (Kilde Automation / OUH Centre for Clinical Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Cut sections of body tissues for microscopic examination, using microtomes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, AS-410M Auto Slide Preparation System (Dainippon Seiki / Axlab) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Operate computerized laboratory equipment to dehydrate, decalcify, or microincinerate tissue samples.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Tissue-Tek SmartConnect (with Xpress x120 processor and AutoTEC a120 embedder) (Sakura Finetek Europe) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Mount tissue specimens on glass slides.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SectionStar (Clarapath) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 6 min3 min to 13 min | Stays with people | |
| Freeze tissue specimens.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Milestone PrestoCHILL (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 10 min4 min to 25 min | 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). 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.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Histology Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% 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 Histology Technicians come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Histology Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Stain tissue specimens with dyes or other chemicals to make cell details visible under microscopes; Maintain laboratory equipment, such as microscopes, mass spectrometers, microtomes, immunostainers, tissue processors, embedding centers, and water baths; and Embed tissue specimens into paraffin wax blocks, or infiltrate tissue specimens with wax. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Histology Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. 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 Histology Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 100% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 91% of the working time, 7% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.97 of 3. One example: Tissue-Tek SmartConnect (with Xpress x120 processor and AutoTEC a120 embedder) for "operate computerized laboratory equipment to dehydrate, decalcify, or microincinerate tissue samples". 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 8 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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