Measure physical or chemical properties of materials or objects.

Measure physical or chemical properties of materials or objects. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 5 occupations and seen in 10 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment. in Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or 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 10 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 8 (80%) 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 3 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.006% 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.

• Make radiographic images to detect flaws in objects while leaving objects intact. · Non-Destructive Testing Specialists · importance 4.7 · exposure with tools
• Produce images of objects on film, using radiographic techniques. · Non-Destructive Testing Specialists · importance 4.5 · exposure with tools
• Evaluate material properties, using radio astronomy, voltage and amperage measurement, or rheometric flow measurement. · Non-Destructive Testing Specialists · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Produce images or measurements, using tools or techniques such as atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, particle size analysis, or zeta potential analysis. · Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians · importance 4.4 · exposure with tools
• Monitor and control temperature of products. · Food Science Technicians · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Map the presence of imperfections within objects, using sonic measurements. · Non-Destructive Testing Specialists · importance 4.3 · exposure with tools
• Assist nanoscientists or engineers in processing or characterizing materials according to physical or chemical properties. · Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians · importance 4.1 · exposure with tools
• Inspect or measure thin films of carbon nanotubes, polymers, or inorganic coatings, using a variety of techniques or analytical tools. · Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Generate high-resolution images or measure force-distance curves, using techniques such as atomic force microscopy. · Nanosystems Engineers · importance 3.6 · exposure with tools
• Calculate amount of pollutant in samples or compute air pollution or gas flow in industrial processes, using chemical and mathematical formulas. · Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health · importance 3.4 · direct LLM exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Non-Destructive Testing Specialists
• Nanotechnology Engineering Technologists and Technicians
• Food Science Technicians
• Nanosystems Engineers
• Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health

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-measure-physical-or-chemical-properties-of-materials-or-objects,
  title  = {Measure physical or chemical properties of materials or objects.},
  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/measure-physical-or-chemical-properties-of-materials-or-objects}
}