Nanosystems Engineers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 7% 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 64% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 22% of the time, stays with people.
Design, develop, or supervise the production of materials, devices, or systems of unique molecular or macromolecular composition, applying principles of nanoscale physics and electrical, chemical, or biological engineering.
$122,930 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 on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet28 h
- Stays with people9 h
Nanosystems Engineers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 28 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 9 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Provide scientific or technical guidance or expertise to scientists, engineers, technologists, technicians, or others, using knowledge of chemical, analytical, or biological processes as applied to micro and nanoscale systems (under an hour); Provide technical guidance or support to customers on topics such as nanosystem start-up, maintenance, or use (under an hour); Identify new applications for existing nanotechnologies (under an hour).
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.
- 78%
- 4%
- 19%
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, 2%. Today's estimate: 7%.
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, 0.074% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 198th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 2 of its 25 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.067% to 0.13% (released February and March 2025); 0.063% to 0.064% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.068% to 0.074% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.067% | 232 of 708 | 7 of 25 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.13% | 127 of 703 | 9 of 25 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.063% | 208 of 655 | 5 of 25 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.058% | 220 of 672 | 7 of 25 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.064% | 216 of 677 | 6 of 25 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.068% | 206 of 434 | 2 of 25 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.074% | 198 of 447 | 2 of 25 |
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 53% of this job's working time as physical work. For 49% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 45% in a purpose-built cell, 5% in a structured facility. 0.54 of 3, the 299th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 47%
- No robot shown 4%
- In a purpose-built cell 45%
- In a structured facility 5%
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 . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthesize, process, or characterize nanomaterials, using advanced tools or techniques.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA-based mobile manipulator) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Design or conduct tests of new nanotechnology products, processes, or systems.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA KMR iiwa based) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Develop processes or identify equipment needed for pilot or commercial nanoscale scale production.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | 5%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Engineer production processes for specific nanotechnology applications, such as electroplating, nanofabrication, or epoxy.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 4.2 work days1.4 work days to 4.2 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Design nano-enabled products with reduced toxicity, increased durability, or improved energy efficiency.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 6% | 4.2 work days1 work day to 3.3 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Create designs or prototypes for nanosystem applications, such as biomedical delivery systems or atomic force microscopes.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Robotic assisted nanofabrication (Meca500-R4 arm, ROS2, Realsense D405 vision) (Stanford University, Department of Applied Physics / Ginzton Laboratory) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Apply nanotechnology to improve the performance or reduce the environmental impact of energy products, such as fuel cells or solar cells.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Autonomous closed-loop perovskite framework (ML discovery + automated manufacturing platform) (Gao, Lu, Zhang et al. (academic consortium), published in Nature) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 3.5 work weeks | 1%Half by Apr 2028 | |
| Design nanosystems with components such as nanocatalysts or nanofiltration devices to clean specific pollutants from hazardous waste sites.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Develop catalysis or other green chemistry methods to synthesize nanomaterials, such as nanotubes, nanocrystals, nanorods, or nanowires.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (KUKA mobile manipulator, Cooper group) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Design nanoparticle catalysts to detect or remove chemical or other pollutants from water, soil, or air.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 work weeks2.1 work days to 1.2 work months | 1%Half by Jun 2028 | |
| Conduct research related to a range of nanotechnology topics, such as packaging, heat transfer, fluorescence detection, nanoparticle dispersion, hybrid systems, liquid systems, nanocomposites, nanofabrication, optoelectronics, or nanolithography.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Mobile robotic chemist (Liverpool, KUKA mobile manipulator) (University of Liverpool) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 3.3 work weeks4.2 work days to 2.3 work months | 0%Half by Dec 2028 | |
| Design or engineer nanomaterials, nanodevices, nano-enabled products, or nanosystems, using three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) software.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.5 work days5 h to 1.7 work weeks | 15%Half by Aug 2027 |
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.
- Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians18% now, 19% by 2028
- Materials Scientists16% now, 49% by 2028
- Microsystems Engineers10% now, 63% by 2028
- Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers15% now, 55% by 2028
- Chemical Engineers19% now, 70% by 2028
- Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers12% now, 52% by 2028
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 Nanosystems Engineers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 7% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 64% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (30% to 76% 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 Nanosystems Engineers 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: Provide scientific or technical guidance or expertise to scientists, engineers, technologists, technicians, or others, using knowledge of chemical, analytical, or biological processes as applied to micro and nanoscale systems (99% of the task's time now); Provide technical guidance or support to customers on topics such as nanosystem start-up, maintenance, or use (94% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Identify new applications for existing nanotechnologies (44% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Nanosystems Engineers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Synthesize, process, or characterize nanomaterials, using advanced tools or techniques; Design or conduct tests of new nanotechnology products, processes, or systems; and Create designs or prototypes for nanosystem applications, such as biomedical delivery systems or atomic force microscopes. Together such tasks are about 22% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Nanosystems Engineers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.074% went to this job's tasks, the 198th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 2 of its 25 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 7%. 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 Nanosystems Engineers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 53% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 49% of the working time, 5% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.54 of 3. One example: Park FX40 automatic AFM for "generate high-resolution images or measure force-distance curves, using techniques such as atomic force microscopy". 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 25 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.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.