As of October 27, 2026, 74% of research scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask you to use AI tools or work on AI. Out of 189 postings, 129 are Builds AI, 6 are Works on AI, 4 are Uses AI, 50 are Little AI. Down from 97% in the 90 days before that: 74% of research scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask for AI, 24 points fewer.
AI in Research scientist jobs
74% of research scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask you to use AI tools or work on AI.
Updated Oct 27, 2026
189 research scientist jobs, by AI level
Jobs posted in the last 90 days, grouped by how much AI is in the work the person hired would do.
| Level | Share of postings | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 68%129 jobs | ||
| 3%6 jobs | ||
| 2%4 jobs | ||
| 26%50 jobs |
Down from 97% in the 90 days before that: 74% of research scientist jobs posted in the last 90 days ask for AI, 24 points fewer.
The job is building AI systems.
The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
An ordinary role that requires AI tools.
AI is not part of the work.
AI skills named in research scientist jobs
- PyTorch40% (76 jobs)
- Computer vision24% (46 jobs)
- TensorFlow12% (22 jobs)
- AI agents11% (21 jobs)
- Fine-tuning10% (18 jobs)
- NLP8% (16 jobs)
Starting pay by AI level
Among research scientist jobs that publish a salary range in US dollars, the median starting salary is $197,000 for Builds AI and $126,000 for Little AI.
- $197,000 (107 jobs with a salary)
- $126,000 (37 jobs with a salary)
Recent research scientist jobs that ask for AI
$300k-$320kSan Francisco, CA1d
python
$224k-$357kUS, MA, Westford4d
pythonc
$224k-$357kUS, MA, Westford4d
python
IN, KA, Bangalore5d
tensorflowscikit-learnpython+3
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Questions about AI in research scientist jobs
How many research scientist jobs ask for AI?
Which AI skills do research scientist jobs name?
As of October 27, 2026, the AI tools and skills named most often in research scientist job postings are PyTorch (40% of postings), Computer vision (24% of postings), TensorFlow (12% of postings) and AI agents (11% of postings).
Do research scientist jobs that ask for AI pay more?
As of October 27, 2026. Among research scientist jobs that publish a salary range in US dollars, the median starting salary is $197,000 for Builds AI and $126,000 for Little AI. Only postings that publish a salary range count, and the figure is the lower end of the range.
What do the four AI levels mean for a research scientist job?
Builds AI: The job is building AI systems. Works on AI: The daily work is on AI products, without building the model. Uses AI: An ordinary role that requires AI tools. Little AI: AI is not part of the work. Each posting is rated on what the person hired would do day to day, not on what the employer sells.
Method: every job posted on Level in the last 90 days under this title is counted once, open or closed, on its posting date. Each job is rated on the work the person hired would do and placed at one of four levels, see our method. AI skills come from a fixed list of tools and skills named in the posting. Pay is the lower end of published salary ranges in dollars, median per level, shown only with at least 10 jobs. Postings change with coverage and sources, so comparisons with the earlier period describe postings, not the job itself.
Cite this page
Level (jobsbylevel.com), "AI in Research scientist jobs". Share of job postings at each AI level, last 90 days. Data measured on October 27, 2026. License CC BY 4.0. https://jobsbylevel.com/ai-in-your-job/research-scientist