Anthropic studies how scientists use Claude and how much research time AI could take

1. 7:14 PM
   Ethan Mollick@emollickX

   Anthropic study estimates AI could take 27–52% of research time by field

   AIEthan Mollick shares new Anthropic data on AI's impact on scientific work across fields. Anthropic says that with current capabilities, if adopted widely, AI could take on 27–52% of the researcher time needed to produce a new study, with a median of 38% across fields. Charts in the post show Claude and Claude Code use relative to researcher share for each scientific field.

   

1. Anthropic ResearchOfficialPick

   Anthropic studies how researchers use Claude across scientific fields and tasks

   AIAnthropic analyzed 207,049 consumer-plan Claude and Claude Code sessions from August to September 2026 to map scientific use. Data analysis made up about one-third of Claude sessions and nearly half of Claude Code sessions, while idea generation and data gathering were used less than researchers say they matter. The report estimates that current capabilities could double research output in some fields, and up to 15-fold in fully automated non-physical work, with physical bottlenecks limiting the bench sciences.

The trend compares only continuously observed participants, so its scope may be smaller than the current heat total. Hover or tap for hourly heat; use arrow keys with a keyboard.