Analyze gunshot residue and bullet paths to determine how shootings occurred.

“Analyze gunshot residue and bullet paths to determine how shootings occurred.” is a supplemental task performed by Forensic Science Technicians. Among the occupation's 21 rated tasks, workers place it 7th by importance (#15 most important). About 71% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Analyze biological or chemical substances or related data. in Analyzing Data or Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Collect evidence from crime scenes, storing it in conditions that preserve its integrity. · importance 4.9
• Keep records and prepare reports detailing findings, investigative methods, and laboratory techniques. · importance 4.8
• Use photographic or video equipment to document evidence or crime scenes. · importance 4.7
• Testify in court about investigative or analytical methods or findings. · importance 4.5
• Use chemicals or other substances to examine latent fingerprint evidence and compare developed prints to those of known persons in databases. · importance 4.5
• Visit morgues, examine scenes of crimes, or contact other sources to obtain evidence or information to be used in investigations. · importance 4.3
• Train new technicians or other personnel on forensic science techniques. · importance 4.3
• Operate and maintain laboratory equipment and apparatus. · importance 4.1
• Collect impressions of dust from surfaces to obtain and identify fingerprints. · importance 4.1
• Reconstruct crime scenes to determine relationships among pieces of evidence. · importance 4.1
• Determine types of bullets and specific weapons used in shootings. · importance 4.0
• Review forensic analysts' reports for technical merit. · importance 4.0
• Interpret laboratory findings or test results to identify and classify substances, materials, or other evidence collected at crime scenes. · importance 4.0
• Examine and analyze blood stain patterns at crime scenes. · importance 3.9

See all tasks on the Forensic Science Technicians page.

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
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-1583,
  title  = {Analyze gunshot residue and bullet paths to determine how shootings occurred.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-1583}
}