AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 19-1041.00
Will AI replace Epidemiologists?
Epidemiologists: AI can already handle 3 of 16 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 16 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Epidemiologists, from most to least exposed. 3 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Write articles for publication in professional journals. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Consult with and advise physicians, educators, researchers, government health officials and others regarding medical applications of sciences, such as physics, biology, and chemistry. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Monitor and report incidents of infectious diseases to local and state health agencies. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Write grant applications to fund epidemiologic research. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Supervise professional, technical, and clerical personnel. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Prepare and analyze samples to study effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, or microorganisms on cell structure and tissue. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Oversee public health programs, including statistical analysis, health care planning, surveillance systems, and public health improvement. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Provide expertise in the design, management and evaluation of study protocols and health status questionnaires, sample selection, and analysis. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians. | Estimated | Efficient |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 16 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 15 of 16. 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
- 12,090
- Median annual wage
- $87,220
- Middle half of earners
- $71,090 to $112,640
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +16.2%
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.
- Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists 74% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure65
- Economists 68% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure59
- Microbiologists 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure55
- Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health 65% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure54
- Biostatisticians 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure57
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Epidemiologists and AI
Will AI replace Epidemiologists?
AI already handles 3 of the 16 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 55 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 +16.2% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Epidemiologists?
55 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. 1 of the 16 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 15 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Epidemiologists tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Write articles for publication in professional journals; Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others; Consult with and advise physicians, educators, researchers, government health officials and others regarding medical applications of sciences, such as physics, biology, and chemistry. They are the 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 Epidemiologists, and what do they earn?
12,090 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $87,220 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +16.2% 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: Epidemiologists. 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/epidemiologists
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