Job Check
Agricultural Technicians
Work with agricultural scientists in plant, fiber, and animal research, or assist with animal breeding and nutrition. Set up or maintain laboratory equipment and collect samples from crops or animals. Prepare specimens or record data to assist scientists in biology or related life science experiments. Conduct tests and experiments to improve yield and quality of crops or to increase the resistance of plants and animals to disease or insects.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Prepare land for cultivated crops, orchards, or vineyards by plowing, discing, leveling, or contouring.Mostly human for now
- 02Operate farm machinery, including tractors, plows, mowers, combines, balers, sprayers, earthmoving equipment, or trucks.Mostly human for now
- 03Record data pertaining to experimentation, research, or animal care.AI could speed this up a lot
- 04Maintain or repair agricultural facilities, equipment, or tools to ensure operational readiness, safety, and cleanliness.Mostly human for now
- 05Perform crop production duties, such as tilling, hoeing, pruning, weeding, or harvesting crops.Mostly human for now
- 06Collect animal or crop samples.Mostly human for now
- 07Examine animals or crop specimens to determine the presence of diseases or other problems.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 08Set up laboratory or field equipment as required for site testing.Mostly human for now
- 09Supervise or train agricultural technicians or farm laborers.Mostly human for now
- 10Conduct studies of nitrogen or alternative fertilizer application methods, quantities, or timing to ensure satisfaction of crop needs and minimization of leaching, runoff, or denitrification.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job loss1%of this job’s work time goes to tasks that people already do with Claude at work, counting tasks where AI only helps as half (2026).Anthropic, 2026
32%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 42% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 86% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Prepare land for cultivated crops, orchards, or vineyards by plowing, discing, leveling, or contouring.
- Operate farm machinery, including tractors, plows, mowers, combines, balers, sprayers, earthmoving equipment, or trucks.
- Maintain or repair agricultural facilities, equipment, or tools to ensure operational readiness, safety, and cleanliness.