Will AI replace postsecondary teaching assistants?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 1h 2m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by AI working on its own. The other 6h 58m (87%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 2.7% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 2 of 20 tasks, about 1h 2m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites. (37m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Prepare or proctor examinations. (25m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

Not in workplaces like this one, based on a 2026 review of robot deployments. 4 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 2 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

6h 58m of a typical shift, or 87%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Evaluate and grade examinations, assignments, or papers, and record grades. (1h 51m a shift)
• Lead discussion sections, tutorials, or laboratory sections. (1h 14m a shift)
• Teach undergraduate-level courses. (37m a shift)
• Schedule and maintain regular office hours to meet with students. (37m a shift)
• Tutor or mentor students who need additional instruction. (25m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 66% talk face to face with others every day
• 65% are in constant contact with other people

We track 1 sourced company move that affects this job. Most recent:

• Feb 6, 2025: Rotman professors' AI teaching assistant spreads to other universities (Rolling out)

For the 2 tasks in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 8h 3m for a person alone and about 22m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Develop teaching materials, such as syllabi, visual aids, answer keys, supplementary notes, or course Web sites (about 10h 39m alone, 31m with AI)
• Prepare or proctor examinations (about 5h 27m alone, 12m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Education & Instruction sector are at 107% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 9.5% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 26,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $42,910 a year, 16% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $28,600 and $76,420 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 2.7% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 211,000 jobs in 2035. It expects about 26,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 164,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.11% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 197th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 211,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a bachelor's degree: about 57% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 5 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: graduate degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Instructing, Learning Strategies, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 6h 58m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Google Docs, IBM SPSS Statistics
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

Yes. Occupational experts recently added these to the official task list, a sign of how the work itself is shifting. New tasks aren't rated for AI or robots yet:

• Correspond with students through email to address their questions and concerns.

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Tutors (3h 46m touched, $43k median pay)
• Elementary School Teachers (1h 29m touched, $64k median pay)
• Secondary School Teachers (3h 50m touched, $72k median pay)
• Middle School Teachers (4h 19m touched, $64k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 observed in real AI use, 18 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.