Will AI replace Political Scientists?
AI can do 96% of the work Political Scientists do at least twice as fast. People already use it for 5 of their 14 tasks, while 8 more are ready but barely used so far. 1 still needs a person.
AI is already doing this5 · 41% of time
People already use AI for these tasks in real work, based on Anthropic's analysis of how Claude is used.
- Interpret and analyze policies, public issues, legislation, or the operations of governments, businesses, and organizations.Mostly automated15% of time
- Develop and test theories, using information from interviews, newspapers, periodicals, case law, historical papers, polls, or statistical sources.Mostly automated11% of time
- Evaluate programs and policies, and make related recommendations to institutions and organizations.Mostly automated6% of time
- Teach political science.Mostly automated5% of time
- Write drafts of legislative proposals, and prepare speeches, correspondence, and policy papers for governmental use.Mostly assisted4% of time
AI could do this next8 · 56% of time
AI can speed these up by at least half, but real use has not caught up yet. These are next in line.
- Collect, analyze, and interpret data, such as election results and public opinion surveys, reporting on findings, recommendations, and conclusions.15% of time
- Disseminate research results through academic publications, written reports, or public presentations.11% of time
- Maintain current knowledge of government policy decisions.10% of time
- Consult with and advise government officials, civic bodies, research agencies, the media, political parties, and others concerned with political issues.7% of time
- Identify issues for research and analysis.4% of time
- Forecast political, economic, and social trends.4% of time
- Provide media commentary or criticism related to public policy and political issues and events.2% of time
- Advise political science students.2% of time
Still needs a person1 · 4% of time
No real AI use, no proven AI speedup and no robot that can do it yet. This is the part of the job to build on.
- Serve on committees.4% of time
Your week is not the average
Describe what you actually do and get a personal report: your own tasks, what AI can already do, what stays yours and a 90 day plan.
What this means
AI can already do almost all of this work at least twice as fast. People in this job already use it heavily. Expect the role to shift toward deciding what to do, checking AI's work and owning the result.
What to do next
- Do the 5 tasks AI is already handling with AI yourself. Your peers already are, and it is quickly becoming the baseline.
- Get ahead on the 8 tasks AI could do next. These move as tools improve, so learning them early pays off.
- Build on the 1 task that stay human. This is where your judgment, skill and relationships matter most.
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