Will AI replace research assistants?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 65% of the working time in a typical research assistant job today. The other 35% still needs a person.

35% of the work still needs a person.

Needs a person: 35%A person checking AI: 22%AI alone: 43%

The bracket under the bar is the evidence range for the share AI could take on: 52 to 65%. One end comes from how well AI did each responsibility in real use, or a second rating where that isn't measured. The other is our figure, which also follows research across the industry.

20 responsibilities in a typical research assistant job. Median pay $61,990 a year in the U.S. (BLS, May 2025).

Still needs a person

  • Get informed consent from research subjects
  • Interview or test research subjects AI helps
  • Screen potential study subjects AI helps
  • Recruit and schedule participants AI helps
  • Work out what a client's research needs AI helps
  • Track and follow up with participants AI helps

AI can do or help with

  • Interview or test research subjects AI helps
  • Write programs for data analysis and cleaning AI helps
  • Build and manage research databases AI can do it
  • Track and follow up with participants AI helps
  • Recruit and schedule participants AI helps
  • Run statistical analyses AI can do it

The biggest responsibilities on each side, ranked by a person's time on the left. "AI helps" means AI takes on part of the work, or most of it with a person checking what it produces, so one can show on both sides. See all 20, with the reason for each and the cost of handing them to AI.

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Questions people ask

Will AI replace research assistants?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 65% of the working time in a typical research assistant job today. The other 35% still needs a person. That is a split of the work, not a forecast of jobs lost.

Which parts of the job can AI do?

The biggest ones AI can do or help with: interview or test research subjects, write programs for data analysis and cleaning, build and manage research databases, track and follow up with participants, recruit and schedule participants, run statistical analyses.

Which parts still need a person?

The biggest ones: get informed consent from research subjects, interview or test research subjects, screen potential study subjects, recruit and schedule participants, work out what a client's research needs, track and follow up with participants.

How is this measured?

The U.S. Department of Labor lists 22 responsibilities for this job (O*NET 31.0), and the split covers the 20 people in it do today. Each is scored on 4 questions: can AI do it, does it get it right, must a person sign for it, and do people need to deal with a real person. The split is weighted by how much of the job each responsibility takes up. The evidence range for the share AI could take on is 52 to 65%. One end comes from how well AI did each responsibility in real use, or a second rating where that isn't measured. The other is our figure, which also follows research across the industry. Scores version 0.7.17, updated October 28, 2026.

Responsibilities from O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor). Pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Scores are calibrated to published research and updated every month. How it works.

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