Will AI Replace Mathematicians?

Among the most exposed occupations measured, ranked 10 of 785. Employment is projected to stay flat to 2035, at around 2,000 jobs.

Teacher writing mathematical formulas on a blackboard
Photo by @silverkblack on Unsplash

Where this job sits against every other

Least exposed785 occupationsMost exposed
#10 of 785 occupations, ordered by AI exposure

Each column is a slice of the 785 occupations Microsoft measured for how much of their work today's AI can do. Mathematicians sit in the blue column.

What the job is made of

The biggest single piece of this job is “Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles”, at 40.0% of the work. The column on the right is a different measure entirely: out of every time someone asked AI to do that activity, how often it actually got it right. It counts attempts people made, so a high number does not mean the work has moved to AI. It means AI is capable of that task when asked.

Share of the jobAI success rate
Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles
40.0%
58% of attempts
Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
20.0%
91% of attempts
Present research or technical information
11.2%
90% of attempts
Design computer or information systems or applications
9.2%
86% of attempts
Determine operational methods or procedures
7.8%
93% of attempts
Develop scientific or mathematical theories or models
7.6%
73% of attempts

8 activities make up this occupation in the government's classification. The six here are the ones that define it most.

AI is weakest at “Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles”, which is 40.0% of this job. Asked to do it, it finishes correctly 58% of the time. The work it handles well sits above 90%.

The numbers behind it

2,000people doing this work
+0.6%projected change by 2035
$126,710median pay, US

Employment and pay are United States figures, the only country publishing this per occupation. The work activities and the AI measurements are not country specific.

There are about 0,000 openings a year here, counting people who retire or move on as well as new positions.

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