Will AI replace Social Science Research Assistants?
Estimated risk score: 76 out of 100
High 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 (57 to 95).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 23 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 19-4061.00 · 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: 12 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
- Perform data entry and other clerical work as required for project completion.
- Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
- Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
- Verify the accuracy and validity of data entered in databases, correcting any errors.
- Code data in preparation for computer entry.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 3 of its 23 rated tasks; the first 2 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Allocate and manage laboratory space and resources.
- Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
What the job is
Assist social scientists in laboratory, survey, and other social science research. May help prepare findings for publication and assist in laboratory analysis, quality control, or data management.
Also called: Social Research Assistant, Research Aide, Research Data Analyst, UX Research Assistant, Economic Research Assistant, Economist Research Assistant, Historian Research Assistant, Sociology Research Assistant.
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