Will physics professors be replaced by AI?
Updated
Physics professors score 44 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 50%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 18% outright, and 32% stays with people.
- 18% AI can do it
- 50% AI helps
- 32% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 60% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 24 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 4 of them today, speeds up 12 and leaves 8 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records. Attendance and grade records are clerical data entry. | 82% AI can do it |
| Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. Syllabi, handouts, and problem sets are strong LLM writing tasks. | 78% AI can do it |
| Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments. AI compiles reading lists quickly; citations need checking for errors. | 70% AI can do it |
| Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers. AI drafts feedback and scores written work; instructor reviews grades. | 65% AI can do it |
| Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others. AI can write and grade questions; proctoring stays human. | 60% AI helps |
| Write grant proposals to procure external research funding. AI drafts proposal text; scientific aims need expert input. | 55% AI helps |
| Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction. AI can analyze course design and suggest revisions; faculty decide. | 50% AI helps |
| Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences. AI summarizes papers quickly; conferences and networking stay human. | 50% AI helps |
| Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as quantum mechanics, particle physics, and optics. AI helps prep lecture content; live delivery stays with teacher. | 45% AI helps |
| Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media. AI aids literature review and writing; experiments remain hands on. | 40% AI helps |
Show the other 14 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and laboratory equipment. AI compares specs and drafts orders; humans approve purchases. | 40% AI helps |
| Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head. Administration mixes writing and people management; AI helps with paperwork. | 35% AI helps |
| Provide professional consulting services to government or industry. AI helps analysis and reports; consulting needs accountable expert judgement. | 35% AI helps |
| Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues. AI can answer requirement questions; career advice needs personal judgement. | 30% AI helps |
| Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities. Recruiting and placement mix clerical tasks with personal contact. | 30% AI helps |
| Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues. Collaboration is mostly live discussion; AI helps with drafts. | 22% AI helps |
| Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues. Committee meetings need live judgement; AI can draft minutes. | 18% Needs a person |
| Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students. Live student meetings need human presence and judgement. | 15% Needs a person |
| Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work. Mentoring and supervising research depends on personal human judgement. | 15% Needs a person |
| Supervise students' laboratory work. Hands on lab supervision requires physical presence and safety oversight. | 10% Needs a person |
| Act as advisers to student organizations. Advising student groups is in person and relational. | 10% Needs a person |
| Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. Live discussion moderation needs real time human response. | 8% Needs a person |
| Maintain and repair laboratory equipment. Equipment repair is hands on physical work with tools. | 5% Needs a person |
| Participate in campus and community events. Campus and community events require physical presence. | 5% Needs a person |
How physics professors compare
All occupations (923)
Educational instruction and library (62)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $100,310 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 13,090 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +2.4% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Run MATLAB simulations for physics lab experiments
- Supervise students' laboratory work with safety oversight
- Check AI-drafted citations in Word and Google Docs
- Write grant proposals with your scientific aims
- Moderate live classroom discussions on physics problems
- Maintain and repair lab equipment with hand tools
Safer roles nearby
2 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about physics professors and AI
Will AI replace physics professors?
Partly. About 4 in 10 of a physics professor's working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining student records and preparing course materials. Teaching live, supervising labs and advising students stay with people because they need a person in the room.
Which tasks is AI taking over for physics professors?
AI takes over attendance and grade records, with an exposure score of 82, because the work is clerical data entry. Syllabi, homework sets and handouts follow at 78, since they are strong writing tasks for language models. Reading list compilation at 70 is fast, though citations still need checking for errors.
Which physics professor tasks stay human?
Lab supervision scores 10 on exposure, since hands-on work needs physical presence and safety oversight. Live classroom discussion scores 8, because it needs real-time human response. Office hours score 15, since student meetings need human presence and judgement. Lab equipment repair scores 5, because it is hands-on physical work with tools.
How can physics professors stay valuable as AI grows?
Spend the hours AI frees on lab supervision and office hours, where exposure stays low. Audit every AI-compiled bibliography and AI-drafted exam against its source before students see it. Use MATLAB to build simulations for lab work, and write grant proposals around your scientific aims.
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