Physics Teachers, Postsecondary

Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.

AI: Fully automatable - Generating syllabi, homework, handouts, rubrics, and variations for different levels is well within current AI capabilities and workflows.

Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.

AI: Fully automatable - Maintaining attendance, grades, and records is fully automatable through LMS integration, databases, and workflow automation with high reliability and auditability.

Compile bibliographies of specialized materials for outside reading assignments.

AI: Fully automatable - AI can search scholarly databases, filter and format citations to produce curated bibliographies automatically, though human review may still be useful.

Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.

AI: Partial - AI can accelerate literature review, hypothesis generation, data analysis, and manuscript drafting, but cannot independently carry out all experimental work, take institutional responsibility, or fully guarantee novel, validated results.

Supervise students' laboratory work.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with monitoring and guidance (e.g., virtual labs, safety alerts) but cannot physically supervise or intervene in hands-on student laboratory work.

Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as quantum mechanics, particle physics, and optics.

AI: Partial - AI can prepare and even deliver scripted lectures and explain technical topics, but it cannot wholly replicate live classroom dynamics, nuanced Socratic engagement, and personalized mentorship of an in-person instructor.

Write grant proposals to procure external research funding.

AI: Partial - AI can draft strong grant text, refine aims, and format budgets, but proposal strategy, institutional commitments, and PI credibility require human leadership and judgment.

Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.

AI: Partial - AI can continuously monitor and synthesize literature, but attending conferences, informal colleague interaction, and active professional networking remain human-centric activities.

Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with administrative supervision, provide feedback, and monitor progress, but cannot fully replace human mentorship, evaluation, and nuanced oversight of student research and internships.

Collaborate with colleagues to address teaching and research issues.

AI: Partial - AI can facilitate collaboration by drafting documents and suggesting solutions, yet genuine cooperative problem-solving, negotiation, and shared decision-making among colleagues still require humans.

Compile, administer, and grade examinations, or assign this work to others.

AI: Partial - AI can compile question banks, deliver exams online, and auto-grade objective items (and assist with rubric-based grading), but high-stakes, subjective, and integrity-sensitive assessment tasks still need human oversight.

Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.

AI: Partial - AI can draft curricula, generate course content, and suggest pedagogical changes, but lacks the accountability, institutional judgement, and nuanced accreditation/departmental coordination needed to fully own curriculum planning and revision.

Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.

AI: Partial - AI can reliably grade objective problems and provide rubric-based feedback and preliminary scoring for essays and reports, but struggles with assessing originality, complex lab judgment, and high-stakes subjective evaluation without human oversight.

Maintain regularly scheduled office hours to advise and assist students.

AI: Partial - AI can provide scheduled virtual advising, automated Q&A, and triage student questions, but cannot fully replace in-person mentoring, relationship-building, and responsibilities tied to formal office hours.

Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.

AI: Partial - AI can initiate, facilitate, and moderate online discussions, generate prompts, and manage moderation at scale, but cannot completely replicate real-time classroom facilitation and the socio-emotional dynamics of live discussion leadership.

Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze curricula and labor-market data to give tailored academic and career guidance, but lacks the deep personal knowledge, ethical judgement, and institutional context needed for fully autonomous advising.

Select and obtain materials and supplies, such as textbooks and laboratory equipment.

AI: Partial - AI can research, recommend, and even automate procurement workflows for textbooks and lab equipment, but final selection, hands-on evaluation, vendor negotiation, and institutional purchasing approvals generally require human action.

Participate in student recruitment, registration, and placement activities.

AI: Partial - AI can automate outreach, lead-generation, registration processes, and placement matching, but human staff are still needed for relationship-building, interviews, high-stakes admissions decisions, and institutional representation.

Serve on academic or administrative committees that deal with institutional policies, departmental matters, and academic issues.

AI: Partial - AI can prepare briefs, analyze policy options, and simulate committee discussion, but cannot serve as a committee member with voting authority or fulfill legal/ethical responsibilities of institutional governance.

Perform administrative duties, such as serving as department head.

AI: Partial - AI can automate many administrative tasks (scheduling, reporting, data analysis) but cannot fully perform leadership, strategic decision-making, and interpersonal responsibilities of a department head.

Maintain and repair laboratory equipment.

AI: Partial - AI can provide diagnostics, schematics, and step-by-step repair instructions and sometimes remote operation, but cannot perform most hands-on maintenance and repairs.

Act as advisers to student organizations.

AI: Partial - AI can advise student organizations on planning, risk management, and logistics and provide template guidance, but cannot assume formal adviser duties, supervisory authority, or institutional accountability.

Provide professional consulting services to government or industry.

AI: Partial - AI can generate analyses, models, and draft consulting reports and support decision-making, but real-world consulting requires client-facing judgment, legal responsibility, and domain credibility that humans provide.

Participate in campus and community events.

AI: Partial - AI can help organize, promote, and remotely participate in events (produce talks, materials, virtual presentations), but cannot fully replace in-person presence and community relationship-building.