Recent physics degree recipients use AI at work for coding, repetitive tasks, and more
Some 40% of newly minted physics PhDs who enter the workforce use AI tools routinely in their jobs, compared with about 23% of employed new physics bachelors. That’s according to data gathered from a survey of people who received their physics degrees in the US in the 2023–24 academic year. The survey was conducted by the American Institute of Physics’ (publisher of Physics Today) statistical research team, who for the first time included specific questions about AI usage in its annual degree-recipient follow-up survey.
(Figure adapted from P. Mulvey, J. Pold, AI use among physics degree recipients, AIP Research, 2025 .)
The most common application of AI tools among the bachelor’s and PhD recipients who reported using them routinely was writing, debugging, or optimizing code; other frequently reported uses of AI were automating repetitive tasks and learning new or complex concepts. The PhD respondents were more likely to report using AI tools for developing machine-learning models and solving complex mathematical problems or equations than the bachelor respondents were.
Those results and others regarding recent physics degree recipients’ AI use at work can be found in the report . The report also breaks down data by STEM and non-STEM employment and includes specific responses from participants regarding their AI usage.