UK AI Exposure · Associate professional occupations
Data analysts
Data analysts gather and organise a variety of data and analyse it to understand what it means for their organisation or society.
- Employees (UK)
- 68k
- Median annual pay
- £38,107
- Exposure score ?
- 6.4/10 High direct 6.4 · with tools 9.3
- Wage exposure
- £1.66bn
Higher exposure than 98% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of the routine task inventory in this role can already be done by a capable LLM. That doesn't mean the role disappears - it means the shape changes, and one person can credibly do the work of several.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
Stop doing anything an LLM can do. Your edge is judgment, relationships, taste, and the parts of the work that require you to be in the room. The operators who notice this first and redesign their workflow around it will be paid for those things; the ones who cling to the old task list will compete against AI at AI's prices.
The tasks in this role, ranked by AI exposure
Below are the real tasks O*NET records for this occupation, sorted highest exposure first. "AI can do this" means a language model can already handle the task directly. "AI can help" means an LLM can assist but not replace. "Human work" means today's AI doesn't touch it. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
9 of 22 tasks in this role are things an AI can already do today. Task list mapped via O*NET "Social Science Research Assistants" (19-4061.00).
Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
Verify the accuracy and validity of data entered in databases, correcting any errors.
Edit and submit protocols and other required research documentation.
Perform data entry and other clerical work as required for project completion.
Code data in preparation for computer entry.
Track laboratory supplies and expenses such as participant reimbursement.
Provide assistance in the design of survey instruments such as questionnaires.
Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
Prepare tables, graphs, fact sheets, and written reports summarizing research results.
Recruit and schedule research participants.
Screen potential subjects to determine their suitability as study participants.
Track research participants, and perform any necessary follow-up tasks.
Develop and implement research quality control procedures.
Prepare, manipulate, and manage extensive databases.
Conduct internet-based and library research.
Present research findings to groups of people.
Supervise the work of survey interviewers.
Perform needs assessments or consult with clients to determine the types of research and information required.
Allocate and manage laboratory space and resources.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
These are the highest-importance tasks in this role that a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these, so they stop eating your team's time.
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Design and create special programs for tasks such as statistical analysis and data entry and cleaning.
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Provide assistance with the preparation of project-related reports, manuscripts, and presentations.
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Perform descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses of data, using computer software.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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