AI Career Risk For Other Biological Science Roles

Will AI Replace Other Biological Science Roles in 2026?

Also known as: Specialty Biologist, Research Biologist, Biological Scientist, Bench Scientist.

Biological scientists in this category cover specialised biology research roles not classified elsewhere. AI absorbs routine analysis; the durable work is senior biological-research judgment, the experimental skill, and the named-author accountability for research outputs.

Exposure ScoreLow Exposure
30/ 100
Rank: 19 of 38 in Science & ResearchCategory avg: 38/100All roles avg: 39/100
This is the role's AI exposure (0 to 100, lower is safer), not your personal AI Career Index (0 to 1000). Get your own score.
Median pay: $98,920 / yr· BLS OEWS, May 2025 · occupational category
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At a Glance

Other Biological Science Roles at a glance

A quick read on Other Biological Science Roles: the AI risk band, where the role sits inside Science & Research, and the headline numbers worth knowing before reading more.

Role Overview

How AI is reshaping Other Biological Science Roles

Biological Scientists, All Other (residual category covering specialty biology not fitting named SOCs: aquatic biologists, parasitologists, virologists in some classifications, specialty multi-discipline biologists) work at research universities, biotech, pharma R&D, environmental research operations, government agencies (NIH, USDA, NOAA), and specialty research programs. AI-augmented research tools (AlphaFold, AI-driven bioinformatics, AI lab-automation) augment work substantially; the doctoral-level scientist judgment and research design remain human. The migration path runs into senior scientist, principal investigator, or industry biotech leadership where premium wages live.

The work depends on accountability, licensure, complex judgment, or being physically present in ways AI tools cannot match. AI is absorbing the layers around the role, the coordination, the paperwork, the reporting, and that tends to make the role more valuable, not less.

The reading below covers the specific AI exposure rating for Other Biological Science Roles, the tasks AI can already do today, the authority band the role typically operates at, and a six-month plan tied to where the role actually sits. Same framework used for every role in the index.

Exposure Profile

AI exposure profile for Other Biological Science Roles

How Other Biological Science Roles stack up against other roles. How much of the work AI can speed up, how much stays with people, and where the role sits compared to the Science & Research average.

Exposure Score
30OUT OF 100
Ranks 19 of 38 in the Science & Research category, above the category average
How this role compares
Other Biological Science Roles30
Category average38
All roles average39
Where AI reaches this role's tasks
AI can do directly23%(halves the time)
AI with tools55%(with software built on AI)
Stays with people22%(no real speed-up)

Share of this occupation's O*NET tasks where AI can cut the time by at least half. Source: Eloundou et al., "GPTs are GPTs", Science (2024).

Exposure trajectory
Rising

Rising: research rates about 51% of this role's work as open to AI speed-up, so pressure grows as tools improve.

Direction from research on AI (Science, 2024) and robots (Anthropic, 2026); 24.5% of this role's work already shows real AI use (Anthropic Economic Index). The line's shape is illustrative, not a measured year-by-year series.

202420252026 (now)2027
Career Simulator

What moves the score for Other Biological Science Roles?

This starts from a typical profile for a low exposure role. Drag any of the five dimensions to see how a structural shift would move the AI Career Index, using the exact weighting behind every reading on the site.

The AI Career Index (0 to 1000) measures your personal structural positioning. It is a different measure from this role's AI exposure score (0 to 100) shown above, which rates the role itself.

Career Simulator

Model the impact of structural shifts

A typical starting profile for other biological science roles. Move any dimension to model the impact on the AI Career Index.

AI Career Index
714/1000
Tier
AI Competitive Professional
Authority band: Strategic
01000
Strategic Clarity· 25%72Advanced
AI Adaptability· 20%70Advanced
Income Leverage· 20%68Transitional
Skill Resilience· 20%74Advanced
Market Alignment· 15%73Advanced
This is a model. Run the real reading to simulate on your own scores.Run my real reading

This simulator applies the same dimension weighting used in your structural reading to estimate directional movement. It does not alter any stored assessment. Actual outcomes depend on implementation quality, sequencing, and market conditions.

Open the full Career Simulator to model all five dimensions from scratch, or see how the score is built in the structural framework.

Key Takeaways

Quick read on Other Biological Science Roles

The short version on Other Biological Science Roles: AI exposure, how much of the role AI can already do, what stays valuable, and the move worth making in the next six months. A quick summary before the deeper read.

Real-world signal

How AI is being used by Other Biological Science Roles today

Two figures for Other Biological Science Roles that sit outside our scoring framework. The adoption figure shows how much of the day-to-day work done by Other Biological Science Roles is already being absorbed by AI tools in the wild. The economic impact figure gives the macro stakes attached to the role at a national level.

AI adoption among Other Biological Science Roles
25%

Share of the work done by Other Biological Science Roles already showing real-world AI usage today, sourced from the Anthropic Economic Index (MIT licence). A 0% reading means the dataset observed no measurable usage for this occupation in its sample, not that AI cannot apply to the role.

Economic impact
$5.52B

Total US economic value generated by Other Biological Science Roles: median annual wage multiplied by total US employment, both from BLS OEWS.

24-Month Trajectory

Where Other Biological Science Roles are heading by 2028

Where Other Biological Science Roles sit today and where the role is heading over the next two years. We don't predict an exact future score. The direction is what the data already shows. If you're in this role or considering it, this is the direction worth planning around.

Today
30/100
Low Exposure
→ ↑
Appreciating
In 24 months · By 2028
Holds and gains value
AI takes care of routine work around this role. The core skills stay in demand and tend to get more valuable, not less.
Category outlook

Over the next two years, where you sit in the research stack decides almost everything. Other Biological Science Roles at the technical-execution layer face accelerating pressure as AI takes more of the routine analysis and literature work. Other Biological Science Roles who design the research, hold specialist authority, or sit on peer review stay protected and arguably gain value, because the time AI saves on routine work amplifies what original contribution is worth. The path forward is upward, into research design and specialist authority.

What AI Can Do

What AI can and can't do for Other Biological Science Roles

The work AI can take over today versus the work it cannot. Where Other Biological Science Roles spend their time on this split largely decides whether the role grows or shrinks over the next two years.

Deprioritise

Stop investing in these

  • Routine sample preparation documentation
  • Standard figure generation from datasets
  • Routine experimental result summarisation
  • Standard statistical analysis from defined protocols
Stays human

Structurally insulated

  • Crisis decisions in failed experiments or unexpected results
  • Peer-review judgment on novelty and methodological soundness
  • Specialist domain expertise built over years of training
  • Strategic research-direction decisions with grant accountability
AI Tools

AI tools currently affecting Other Biological Science Roles

The tools actually reshaping Other Biological Science Roles work in 2026. Each one takes over a slice of the routine work; staying valuable means owning the work that sits above them.

Elicit
AI research assistant for literature review and evidence synthesis.
SciSpace (formerly Typeset)
AI reading and writing assistant for scientific papers.
Consensus
Search engine that extracts findings and consensus from peer-reviewed papers.
Code Ocean
Reproducible research platform with AI-assisted code and data publication.
ChatGPT
Manuscript drafting, methods explanation, and code generation for analysis.
Iris.ai
Research assistant for literature mapping and topic discovery.

Tool list is editorial, not exhaustive. Listing does not imply endorsement. Updated Methodology v3 · 2026.

Structural Reading

Where Other Biological Science Roles sit structurally

Where AI is hitting the work, where it cannot reach, where Other Biological Science Roles are heading over the next two years, and what stays durable. The cards below address each question; the per-role reading underneath them grounds the answers in this role's actual tasks and knowledge layers.

Will AI Replace

Will AI Replace Other Biological Science Roles?

AI will not replace Other Biological Science Roles in the layers that involve original research design, peer-review judgment, or specialist domain expertise built over years of training. AI is absorbing routine bench work, standard data analysis, literature review, and templated writing. The original research and specialist judgment layers are not substitutable because they depend on accumulated expertise and accountability that AI cannot carry.

Automation Risk

Automation Risk for Other Biological Science Roles

Other Biological Science Roles face automation risk concentrated in routine technical execution and standard analysis. AI tooling produces literature reviews, statistical analyses, and first-pass results at near-zero marginal cost. The risk concentrates in Other Biological Science Roles whose work is dominated by technical execution. The risk is far lower for Other Biological Science Roles who own original research design, specialist expertise, or accountability-bearing peer review.

Career Outlook

AI Career Outlook for Other Biological Science Roles

Over the next two years, where you sit in the research stack decides almost everything. Other Biological Science Roles at the technical-execution layer face accelerating pressure as AI takes more of the routine analysis and literature work. Other Biological Science Roles who design the research, hold specialist authority, or sit on peer review stay protected and arguably gain value, because the time AI saves on routine work amplifies what original contribution is worth. The path forward is upward, into research design and specialist authority.

Stay Relevant

How Other Biological Science Roles Stay Relevant

Other Biological Science Roles stay relevant by moving up the research stack into original research design, specialist domain depth, or peer-review judgment. Build fluency with AI tooling so you use it as a research amplifier rather than compete with it on technical throughput. Take ownership of the original contribution and accountability that defines the role's standing in the field, the layers AI structurally cannot occupy.

Inside the Work

A typical week as an Other Biological Science Role

What the work looks like in practice: meetings, deliverables, tools, and the decisions that get escalated. Useful context for anyone weighing this role against the AI-exposure reading above.

Week-in-the-life
Authored by editorial · Other Biological Science Role
MonTueWedThuFri

A typical week for a biological scientist (residual specialty, e.g. aquatic biology, virology, specialty multi-discipline) runs at universities, biotech, pharma R&D, environmental research, or government science operations on academic or industry schedules. Most weeks mix laboratory bench work (assays, cell culture, molecular biology techniques), experimental design and data analysis, manuscript writing and peer review, grant-proposal work (for academic PIs), team supervision, and the credentialed PhD-level research work. AI-augmented bioinformatics tools (AlphaFold, AI-driven analysis) accelerate research; the credentialed-scientist judgment and original-contribution work remain human.

Compression and Durability

Where Other Biological Science Roles compress, and where they hold

A role-specific reading grounded in Other Biological Science Roles's actual O*NET tasks and knowledge layers. The paragraph below is the structural reading; the two columns name the specific layers where compression is hitting and where the work holds.

Structural reading

For Other Biological Science Roles, the durability comes from where the accountability lands. domain judgment and accountability are the structural anchors. AI tooling speeds up science & research routine production, but the licensed, signature-bearing, or relationship-heavy layer stays human. The role accumulates leverage as adjacent production work cheapens.

Salary & Occupation Data

Salary and occupational data for Other Biological Science Roles

Median annual wage, common task statements, and alternate titles drawn from O*NET 30.2 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0) · Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025. BLS reports median wages at the occupational category level, so other biological science roles and related roles that map to the same category share the same source wage. The descriptive occupational data below sits alongside the structural reading; the AI exposure score above is independent of it.

Occupation Snapshot · Other Biological Science Roles
O*NET-SOC 19-1029.00
Median annual wage
$98,920
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Junior
$76,800
Senior
$127,670
Source: O*NET 30.2 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0) · Wages: BLS OEWS May 2025 · Descriptive occupational data; the AI exposure reading is independent.
Reviewed by AI Career Index Research · Methodology v3 · 2026 ·Read the methodology →
Common Feeders

Roles commonly transitioning into Other Biological Science Roles.

These science & research roles are under more pressure than Other Biological Science Roles, and people often path out of them into a seat like yours. If you work in one of these today, Other Biological Science Roles is the kind of role most worth moving toward.

6-Month Action Plan

Six concrete moves for Other Biological Science Roles over the next six months

Other Biological Science Roles are structurally insulated within science & research, but the coordination layer around the role is being absorbed by AI tooling. The six moves below help you reclaim hours from that layer and reinvest them in the licensed and judgment-heavy work that compounds. Each move is one month, with a week-by-week sprint inside. The downloadable PDF adds end-of-month reflection prompts in a print-friendly format.

Go deeper

Take the plan with you

The downloadable PDF gives you the full plan in a print-friendly format you can keep at your desk and check against month by month. Take the AI Career Assessment to get a plan tailored to your specific situation.

FAQ

Common questions about Other Biological Science Roles and AI

The reading above answers the headline question. These FAQs cover the follow-up questions Other Biological Science Roles typically ask: wage benchmarks, the tasks most at risk, the skills that stay valuable, and the six-month plan for this role.

Further Reading

Articles relevant to Other Biological Science Roles

Hand-picked AI Career Index articles on the shifts affecting Other Biological Science Roles and nearby roles. Useful next reads for the broader context behind the reading on this page.

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