Examine characteristics or behavior of living organisms.

Examine characteristics or behavior of living organisms. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 7 occupations and seen in 9 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Research biological or ecological phenomena. in Getting Information .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 9 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 8 (89%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 6 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.020% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Examine chemical or biological samples to identify cell structures or to locate bacteria or extraneous material, using a microscope. · Food Science Technicians · importance 4.2 · exposure with tools
• Identify, classify, and study structure, behavior, ecology, physiology, nutrition, culture, and distribution of plant and animal species. · Biologists · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and function. · Biologists · importance 4.0 · exposure with tools
• Examine animals or crop specimens to determine the presence of diseases or other problems. · Agricultural Technicians · importance 3.7 · exposure with tools
• Examine animals and specimens to detect the presence of disease or other problems. · Biological Technicians · importance 3.7 · exposure with tools
• Observe action of microorganisms upon living tissues of plants, higher animals, and other microorganisms, and on dead organic matter. · Microbiologists · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Study characteristics of animals, such as origin, interrelationships, classification, life histories, diseases, development, genetics, and distribution. · Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists · importance 3.6 · exposure with tools
• Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers. · Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse · importance 3.5 · exposure with tools
• Analyze characteristics of animals to identify and classify them. · Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists · importance 3.5 · exposure with tools

Occupations that perform this

• Food Science Technicians
• Biologists
• Agricultural Technicians
• Microbiologists
• Biological Technicians
• Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists
• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-examine-characteristics-or-behavior-of-living-organisms,
  title  = {Examine characteristics or behavior of living organisms.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/examine-characteristics-or-behavior-of-living-organisms}
}