Will AI replace Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary?

Some of your tasks will be automated. People who use AI will have the edge.

Task exposure to today's AI

43/100

Moderate exposure

This is the occupation's typical task mix. Your own score can be up to 30 points higher or lower depending on how you work: routine share, people contact, judgment and how much you already use AI.

Get your personal score

Will AI replace Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary?

Not entirely. Today's AI tools can take on about 43% of the typical work in this occupation, mostly: prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. The parts that stay human include: Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as classical political thought, international relations, and democracy and citizenship.; Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.; Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions..

People who learn to use AI for the automatable parts keep the edge. The 3-phase plan below shows where to start.

Which tasks AI can take on

The largest tasks in this occupation, their share of the working week, and how much of each today's AI tools can do.

TaskAutomatable

Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. 78%

Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.AI already used 60%

Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.AI already used 57%

Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.AI already used 33%

Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as classical political thought, international relations, and democracy and citizenship. 28%

Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions. 15%

+ 16 more tasks (38% of the week) in the full test.

Your human edge

Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as classical political thought, international relations, and democracy and citizenship.
Conduct research in a particular field of knowledge and publish findings in professional journals, books, or electronic media.
Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.

AI tools to try

ChatGPT / Claude for lesson materialsAI quiz and feedback toolsPresentation and image generators

Related roles

A 3-phase AI learning plan

Phase 1

Materials and preparation

Lesson plans, tasks and differentiated materials with AI.
Quizzes and answer keys.
Check facts and age-appropriateness yourself.

Project

Use AI to rebuild one three-week unit on international relations theory: lecture outlines, two differentiated readings sets and a 20-item quiz with answer key, then fact-check every citation yourself and log hours saved.

Phase 2

Feedback and assessment

Rubrics and feedback drafts with AI.
Spotting common mistakes across student work.
Rules for student AI use and academic honesty.

Project

Build an analytic rubric for your comparative politics essay, draft AI feedback on 15 anonymized papers, edit each one, and compare your grading time and comment length against last term.

Phase 3

Teaching with AI

Teach students to use AI critically.
Assignments that work with AI, not against it.
Share materials and practice with colleagues.

Project

Design and run one seminar assignment where students critique an AI-generated argument on democratic theory, then share the task, AI-use policy and student results with two colleagues.

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