Examine physical evidence, such as hair, fiber, wood, or soil residues to obtain information about its source and composition.

“Examine physical evidence, such as hair, fiber, wood, or soil residues to obtain information about its source and composition.” is a supplemental task performed by Forensic Science Technicians. Among the occupation's 21 rated tasks, workers place it 1st by importance (#21 most important).

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.

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-1585,
  title  = {Examine physical evidence, such as hair, fiber, wood, or soil residues to obtain information about its source and composition.},
  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-1585}
}