← All 785 jobsFile 19-1022
Microbiologists
Mostly untouched
AI barely touches this work so far. The BLS expects 6.2% more of these jobs by 2035, faster than the 3.5% average.
- Rank
- #567 of 785 jobs, by how much of the work AI does
- US jobs, 2025 to 2035
- +6.2% All jobs: +3.5%
- Median US pay
- $87,990 a year, 2025
- People doing it
- 20,100 in the US, with about 1,500 openings a year
The work, 9 activities
The job description, marked up.
Every activity in this job, the biggest first. Tap a line for the evidence.
- deleAI does this
- +AIAI helps
- stetStill yours
AI helps with this: Research biological or ecological phenomena28%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 283 conversations, and it got them there 90% of the time.
AI helps with this: Analyze biological or chemical substances or related data18%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 660 conversations, and it got them there 76% of the time.
Still yours: Prepare specimens or materials for testing11%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Supervise personnel activities8%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Operate laboratory or field equipment7%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Investigate the environmental impact of industrial or development activities7%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
Still yours: Monitor environmental conditions7%
Barely appears in AI conversations: fewer than 1 in 2,000.
AI helps with this: Develop operational or technical procedures or standards7%
People asked AI for help with this in about 1 in 787 conversations, and it got them there 91% of the time. In this job the work is hands-on, so AI can only assist.
AI does this: Present research or technical information7%
AI performed this in about 1 in 30 Copilot conversations and completed it 90% of the time.
2025 to 2035
Ten years from now.
For every 100 of these jobs in 2025, the BLS projects 106 in 2035. Across all US jobs, about 104.
About 1,500 openings a year, from growth and from people who retire or move on.
Nearby
Where your skills travel.
Jobs that share the most work with this one, where AI does less of it.
The wire
On the wire.
Nothing filed about this job yet. The latest from the Planet front:
How to read this file.
deleAI does this. In US Bing Copilot conversations from January to September 2024, AI itself performed the activity, completed it and made a real difference often enough to count.
+AIAI helps. People brought the activity to AI as their own goal, and it usually got them there.
stetStill yours. It barely shows up in AI use, AI rarely finishes it, or in this job it needs hands.
Shares are weighted by how much each activity matters in the job, using O*NET. Microsoft’s own AI applicability score for this job is 0.18, higher than 62% of jobs.
Doing an activity is not doing a job. The researchers behind this data warn against reading it as job loss, and so do we. It is US data; the shape of the work travels.
Sources: Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025) · O*NET OnLine, 19-1022 · BLS Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
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