AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 19-1011.00
Will AI replace Animal Scientists?
Animal Scientists: AI can already handle 7 of 9 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 9 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Animal Scientists, from most to least exposed. 7 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Study effects of management practices, processing methods, feed, or environmental conditions on quality and quantity of animal products, such as eggs and milk. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Research and control animal selection and breeding practices to increase production efficiency and improve animal quality. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Determine genetic composition of animal populations and heritability of traits, using principles of genetics. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Advise producers about improved products and techniques that could enhance their animal production efforts. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Develop improved practices in feeding, housing, sanitation, or parasite and disease control of animals. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Crossbreed animals with existing strains or cross strains to obtain new combinations of desirable characteristics. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 9 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 9 of 9. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 3,100
- Median annual wage
- $68,940
- Middle half of earners
- $49,770 to $103,300
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +5.8%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists 71% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure48
- Soil and Plant Scientists 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure51
- Food Scientists and Technologists 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure52
- Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 68% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure65
- Biologists 68% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure56
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Animal Scientists and AI
Will AI replace Animal Scientists?
AI already handles 7 of the 9 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 67 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +5.8% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Animal Scientists?
67 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 9 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 9 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Animal Scientists tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Study nutritional requirements of animals and nutritive values of animal feed materials; Write up or orally communicate research findings to the scientific community, producers, and the public; Conduct research concerning animal nutrition, breeding, or management to improve products or processes. They are three of the 7 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Animal Scientists, and what do they earn?
3,100 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $68,940 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +5.8% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Animal Scientists. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/animal-scientists
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