Materials Scientists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 16% 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 49% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 51% of the time, stays with people.
Research and study the structures and chemical properties of various natural and synthetic or composite materials, including metals, alloys, rubber, ceramics, semiconductors, polymers, and glass. Determine ways to strengthen or combine materials or develop new materials with new or specific properties for use in a variety of products and applications. Includes glass scientists, ceramic scientists, metallurgical scientists, and polymer scientists.
8,470 people do this job in the US. $117,790 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on6 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet14 h
- Stays with people20 h
Materials Scientists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 6 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 14 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 20 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Plan laboratory experiments to confirm feasibility of processes and techniques used in the production of materials with special characteristics (about 2 h); Devise testing methods to evaluate the effects of various conditions on particular materials (about 1 h); Prepare reports, manuscripts, proposals, and technical manuals for use by other scientists and requestors, such as sponsors and customers (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.
- 49%
- 3%
- 48%
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, 1%. Today's estimate: 16%.
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, 0.085% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 185th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 2 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.21% to 0.16% (released February and March 2025); 0.14% to 0.12% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.079% to 0.085% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.21% | 88 of 708 | 6 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.16% | 105 of 703 | 5 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.14% | 130 of 655 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.1% | 149 of 672 | 5 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.12% | 139 of 677 | 6 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.079% | 188 of 434 | 2 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.085% | 185 of 447 | 2 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 41% of this job's working time as physical work. For 41% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 41% in a purpose-built cell. 0.41 of 3, the 339th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 59%
- In a purpose-built cell 41%
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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research on the structures and properties of materials, such as metals, alloys, polymers, and ceramics, to obtain information that could be used to develop new products or enhance existing ones.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA KMR iiwa) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Perform experiments and computer modeling to study the nature, structure, and physical and chemical properties of metals and their alloys, and their responses to applied forces.Done more than weekly by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZwickRoell roboTest R robotic testing system (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 1.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Research methods of processing, forming, and firing materials to develop such products as ceramic dental fillings, unbreakable dinner plates, and telescope lenses.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, A-Lab (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / UC Berkeley) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.3 work weeks | 20%Half by May 2027 | |
| Determine ways to strengthen or combine materials or develop new materials with new or specific properties for use in a variety of products and applications.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 10% | 4.2 work days1.7 work days to 1.7 work weeks | 7%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Plan laboratory experiments to confirm feasibility of processes and techniques used in the production of materials with special characteristics.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 1.7 work days5 h to 4.2 work days | 41%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Test material samples for tolerance under tension, compression, and shear to determine the cause of metal failures.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZwickRoell roboTest L (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Devise testing methods to evaluate the effects of various conditions on particular materials.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | 52%Half by now | |
| Test metals to determine conformance to specifications of mechanical strength, strength-weight ratio, ductility, magnetic and electrical properties, and resistance to abrasion, corrosion, heat, and cold.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZwickRoell roboTest L robotic testing system (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Write research papers for publication in scientific journals.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 5% | 4.2 work days1.7 work days to 2.1 work weeks | 7%Half by Aug 2027 | |
| Test individual parts and products to ensure that manufacturer and governmental quality and safety standards are met.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ZwickRoell roboTest L robotic testing system (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Supervise and monitor production processes to ensure efficient use of equipment, timely changes to specifications, and project completion within time frame and budget.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Prepare reports, manuscripts, proposals, and technical manuals for use by other scientists and requestors, such as sponsors and customers.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now |
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 Materials Scientists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 16% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 49% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (44% to 49% 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 Materials Scientists 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: Plan laboratory experiments to confirm feasibility of processes and techniques used in the production of materials with special characteristics (41% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Devise testing methods to evaluate the effects of various conditions on particular materials (52% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Prepare reports, manuscripts, proposals, and technical manuals for use by other scientists and requestors, such as sponsors and customers (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Materials Scientists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Conduct research on the structures and properties of materials, such as metals, alloys, polymers, and ceramics, to obtain information that could be used to develop new products or enhance existing ones; Perform experiments and computer modeling to study the nature, structure, and physical and chemical properties of metals and their alloys, and their responses to applied forces; and Test material samples for tolerance under tension, compression, and shear to determine the cause of metal failures. Together such tasks are about 51% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Materials Scientists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.085% went to this job's tasks, the 185th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 2 of its 16 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 18%. 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 Materials Scientists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 41% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 41% of the working time. Its index is 0.41 of 3. One example: Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA KMR iiwa) for "conduct research on the structures and properties of materials, such as metals, alloys, polymers, and ceramics, to obtain information that could be used to develop new products or enhance existing ones". 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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