# Will AI replace data scientists? Updated October 2026 Data scientists score 67 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 62%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over the other 38% outright. - **38%** AI can do it - **62%** AI helps High exposure Higher than 98% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 16 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 6 of them today, speeds up 10 and leaves 0 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software. Cleaning and reshaping raw data is highly automatable with code assistants. | 80% AI can do it | | Write new functions or applications in programming languages to conduct analyses. Code assistants write most analysis functions; developer reviews and tests output. | 80% AI can do it | | Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software. AI generates charts and dashboards code quickly; human checks accuracy. | 75% AI can do it | | Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software. AI coding assistants can write and run most data processing scripts. | 72% AI can do it | | Read scientific articles, conference papers, or other sources of research to identify emerging analytic trends and technologies. LLMs summarize papers and surface trends quickly; reviewer checks relevance. | 65% AI can do it | [See what AI can take on across a data team](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/data-and-analytics/) ## How data scientists compare All occupations (923) Computer and mathematical (36) **Data scientists score 67**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 60 for computer and mathematical. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $120,230 a year, May 2025 People employed 262,440 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +34.6% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Frame business problems with stakeholders before any coding - Review AI-written Spark and Hive jobs against source data - Orchestrate scheduled pipelines in Apache Airflow - Prepare and blend data workflows in Alteryx software - Present model tradeoffs to management with written decision memos - Design sampling plans for surveys and experiments ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Statisticians63 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/statisticians/) - [Financial quantitative analysts58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/financial-quantitative-analysts/) - [Operations research analysts58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/operations-research-analysts/) - [Bioinformatics scientists57 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/bioinformatics-scientists/) - [Bioinformatics technicians66 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/bioinformatics-technicians/) ## Questions about data scientists and AI Will data science be replaced by AI? Partly. About 5 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly cleaning raw data and writing analysis code. Problem framing, stakeholder recommendations and presenting results stay with the person who answers for the decision. Will AI take over data science? AI can already do 38% of the task time in data science and speeds up another 62%. The US has 262,440 data scientist jobs, with a projected change of +34.6% from 2024 to 2034. Which tasks is AI taking over from data scientists? Cleaning and reshaping raw data goes first, because code assistants can write the transformation scripts from a short description. Writing analysis functions and building charts follow, with exposure scores of 80 and 75 out of 100. The analyst still reviews and tests each output before it reaches a decision. Which tasks stay with data scientists? Framing the business problem stays with the analyst, since it depends on stakeholder conversations and organizational context. Recommending solutions, presenting results and choosing between budget, staffing and marketing options also stay human. Trust and accountability sit with the person who answers for the decision. How can data scientists stay valuable as AI takes over? Move hours toward problem framing and stakeholder sessions, the least exposed tasks in this job. Review every AI-written Spark or Airflow job against sample source data before it runs. Take responsibility for the written decision memo that goes to management with each model result. ## Related jobs - [Mathematicians58 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/mathematicians/) - [Data analysts65 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/data-analysts/) - [Data engineers60 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/data-engineers/) - [Management consultants55 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/management-consultants/) ## Next steps for data scientists - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.