AnalysisOpinion / analysisRobotics & Embodied AI · Agents & Tool Use1 source · Sep 30, 2026

What work can robots do?

We present a robot exposure index based on how well robots can perform job tasks today.

Key points

  • Robots, which we define as autonomous physical machines that sense and act, can perform three-quarters of physical tasks in the US, making up 34% of working hours, but mostly in limited settings.
  • Overall, about 80% of job tasks by working time are exposed to either robots or LLMs. Robots do work where LLMs cannot.
  • While robots can do most physical work tasks today, they are much more expensive than human labor.
  • We develop a measure of job exposure to robots, using Claude to assess how well present-day robots can perform work tasks.

Sources (1)

  • [1]What work can robots do?
    Anthropic Research · Sep 30, 12:00 AM
    - We present a robot exposure index based on how well robots can perform job tasks today.
    - Robots, which we define as autonomous physical machines that sense and act, can perform three-quarters of physical tasks in the US, making up 34% of working hours, but mostly in limited settings.

Extractive summary: sentences quoted from the sources.

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