Will AI replace Astronomers?
Estimated risk score: 51 out of 100
Moderate replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (32 to 70).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 17 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 19-2011.00 · Life, Physical, and Social Science
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 4 of its 17 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Analyze research data to determine its significance, using computers.
- Calculate orbits and determine sizes, shapes, brightness, and motions of different celestial bodies.
- Measure radio, infrared, gamma, and x-ray emissions from extraterrestrial sources.
- Review scientific proposals and research papers.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 2 of its 17 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Mentor graduate students and junior colleagues.
- Serve on professional panels and committees.
What the job is
Observe, research, and interpret astronomical phenomena to increase basic knowledge or apply such information to practical problems.
Also called: Research Astrophysicist, Astronomy Outreach Coordinator, Cosmologist, Radio Astronomer, Solar Astronomer, Postdoc Scientist, Optical Astronomer, Stellar Astronomer.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate