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AI exposure Life, physical and social science

Will AI replace anthropologists and archeologists?

Anthropologists and Archeologists. US occupation 19-3091.

13.5%

of the time anthropologists and archeologists spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of anthropologists and archeologists' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.

Ranked 154 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 79% of them.Further along than 79% of them.

Average US job 7.7%

Well above the typical job.Ahead of most of the workforce.

What AI already does for anthropologists and archeologistsWhat anthropologists and archeologists no longer do alone

O*NET lists 30 tasks for anthropologists and archeologists. AI use at work shows up in 4 of them. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.

  1. Create data records for use in describing and analyzing social patterns and processes, using photography, videography, and audio recordings.Core task mostly automated 1.00
  2. Record the exact locations and conditions of artifacts uncovered in diggings or surveys, using drawings and photographs as necessary. mostly automated 0.99
  3. Organize public exhibits and displays to promote public awareness of diverse and distinctive cultural traditions.Core task mostly automated 0.87
  4. Write about and present research findings for a variety of specialized and general audiences.Core task mostly automated 0.86

What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human

26 of the 30 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.

  • Advise government agencies, private organizations, and communities regarding proposed programs, plans, and policies and their potential impacts on cultural institutions, organizations, and communities.Core task
  • Apply traditional ecological knowledge and assessments of culturally distinctive land and resource management institutions to assist in the resolution of conflicts over habitat protection and resource enhancement.Core task
  • Collaborate with economic development planners to decide on the implementation of proposed development policies, plans, and programs based on culturally institutionalized barriers and facilitating circumstances.Core task
  • Collect information and make judgments through observation, interviews, and review of documents.Core task
  • Conduct participatory action research in communities and organizations to assess how work is done and to design work systems, technologies, and environments.Core task
  • Develop and test theories concerning the origin and development of past cultures.Core task
Show the other 20
  • Develop intervention procedures, using techniques such as individual and focus group interviews, consultations, and participant observation of social interaction.Core task
  • Enhance the cultural sensitivity of elementary and secondary curricula and classroom interactions in collaboration with educators and teachers.Core task
  • Formulate general rules that describe and predict the development and behavior of cultures and social institutions.Core task
  • Identify culturally specific beliefs and practices affecting health status and access to services for distinct populations and communities, in collaboration with medical and public health officials.Core task
  • Lead field training sites and train field staff, students, and volunteers in excavation methods.Core task
  • Plan and direct research to characterize and compare the economic, demographic, health care, social, political, linguistic, and religious institutions of distinct cultural groups, communities, and organizations.Core task
  • Research, survey, or assess sites of past societies and cultures in search of answers to specific research questions.Core task
  • Study archival collections of primary historical sources to help explain the origins and development of cultural patterns.Core task
  • Teach or mentor undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology or archeology.Core task
  • Train others in the application of ethnographic research methods to solve problems in organizational effectiveness, communications, technology development, policy making, and program planning.Core task
  • Write grant proposals to obtain funding for research.Core task
  • Assess archeological sites for resource management, development, or conservation purposes and recommend methods for site protection.
  • Clean, restore, and preserve artifacts.
  • Collect artifacts made of stone, bone, metal, and other materials, placing them in bags and marking them to show where they were found.
  • Compare findings from one site with archeological data from other sites to find similarities or differences.
  • Consult site reports, existing artifacts, and topographic maps to identify archeological sites.
  • Describe artifacts' physical properties or attributes, such as the materials from which artifacts are made and their size, shape, function, and decoration.
  • Gather and analyze artifacts and skeletal remains to increase knowledge of ancient cultures.
  • Participate in forensic activities, such as tooth and bone structure identification, in conjunction with police departments and pathologists.
  • Study objects and structures recovered by excavation to identify, date, and authenticate them and to interpret their significance.

How that compares

Among the 46 life, physical and social science occupations, anthropologists and archeologists rank 16. The group averages 12.2%, and its most exposed job is Political Scientists at 45.2%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.

All 756 occupations, ranked

Just above in the ranking

  1. 151Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health 14.4%
  2. 152General and Operations Managers 13.8%
  3. 152Health Education Specialists 13.8%

Just below

  1. 157Special Education Teachers, Middle School 13.4%
  2. 158Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers 13.3%
  3. 158Dietitians and Nutritionists 13.3%

What this does and does not mean

Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.

A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.

Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.