# Will environmental scientists be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Environmental scientists score 51 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 88%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 6% outright, and 6% stays with people. - **6%** AI can do it - **88%** AI helps - **6%** Needs a person High exposure Higher than 77% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 22 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 20 and leaves 1 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data. Chart and graph generation from datasets is routine software work. | 75% AI can do it | | Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects. AI can check data quality and correlations; scientist interprets significance. | 60% AI helps | | Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials. AI can screen permit documents against criteria; a reviewer signs off. | 58% AI helps | | Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples. Data synthesis, analysis and reporting are highly AI-assisted; sample collection is not. | 55% AI helps | | Develop the technical portions of legal documents, administrative orders, or consent decrees. AI drafts technical sections well; legal review and accountability remain human. | 55% AI helps | ## How environmental scientists compare All occupations (923) Life, physical and social science (60) **Environmental scientists score 51**, 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 47 for life, physical and social science. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $82,220 a year, May 2025 People employed 89,250 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +6.1% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Collect field soil, water and air samples on site - Set modeling assumptions and validate results in IBM SPSS Statistics - Build and query emissions datasets in SQL and Microsoft Access - Map monitoring results in ESRI ArcGIS and GIS systems - Draft technical sections of consent decrees in Microsoft Word - Mentor environmental technicians through supervised field sampling ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Environmental technicians44 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/environmental-technicians/) - [Conservation scientists43 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/conservation-scientists/) - [Environmental engineering technicians47 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/environmental-engineering-technicians/) - [Brownfield redevelopment specialists49 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/brownfield-redevelopment-specialists/) - [Health and safety engineers43 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/health-and-safety-engineers/) ## Questions about environmental scientists and AI Will AI replace environmental scientists? Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly chart and graph preparation and environmental data reporting. Field sample collection, site inspections and accident investigation stay with people because they need someone physically present. Which tasks is AI taking over for environmental scientists? Chart and graph preparation has an exposure score of 75, the highest on the list, because it is routine software work. Permit review scores 58, with AI screening documents against criteria while a reviewer signs off. Data synthesis and analysis scores 55, since AI checks data quality and correlations. Which tasks stay human for environmental scientists? Supervising and training technicians scores 15, the lowest exposure, because mentorship depends on in-person presence. Accident investigation scores 25 and site inspections score 22, since both need a person physically on location. Field monitoring scores 30 and stays physical, though its analysis can be AI-assisted. How can environmental scientists stay valuable? Build field sampling skills and keep site inspection training current. Take responsibility for the interpretation step by setting assumptions in IBM SPSS Statistics and judging the significance of correlations. Write technical sections of consent decrees and permits, with a human reviewer signing off on legal risk. Query emissions data in SQL and map results in ESRI ArcGIS. Mentor technicians on site. ## Related jobs - [Health and safety specialists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/health-and-safety-specialists/) ## Next steps for environmental 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.