AI exposure Healthcare practitioners and technical
Will AI replace occupational therapists?
Occupational Therapists. US occupation 29-1122.
The reading
0.8%
of the time occupational therapists spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of occupational therapists' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.
Ranked 340 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 54% of them.Further along than 54% of them.
Per cent of working time Square-law scale
Average US job 7.7%
Around the middle of the pack.Keeping pace with the average job.
What AI already does for occupational therapistsWhat occupational therapists no longer do alone
O*NET lists 37 tasks for occupational therapists. AI use at work shows up in 1 of them. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.
- Provide consultation, support, or education to groups such as parents and teachers.Core task automated and assisted 0.79
What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human
36 of the 37 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.
- Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.Core task
- Assess clients' functioning in areas such as vision, orientation and mobility skills, social and emotional issues, cognition, physical abilities, and personal goals.Core task
- Collaborate with specialists, such as rehabilitation counselors, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists, to provide client solutions.Core task
- Complete and maintain necessary records.Core task
- Conduct research in occupational therapy.Core task
- Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.Core task
Show the other 30
- Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.Core task
- Design instructional programs to improve communication, using devices such as slates and styluses, braillers, keyboards, adaptive handwriting devices, talking book machines, digital books, and optical character readers (OCRs).Core task
- Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.Core task
- Develop rehabilitation or instructional plans collaboratively with clients, based on results of assessments, needs, and goals.Core task
- Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.Core task
- Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.Core task
- Identify visual impairments related to basic life skills in areas such as self care, literacy, communication, health management, home management, and meal preparation.Core task
- Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.Core task
- Monitor clients' progress to determine whether changes in rehabilitation plans are needed.Core task
- Obtain, distribute, or maintain low vision devices.Core task
- Participate in professional development activities, such as reading literature, continuing education, attending conferences, and collaborating with colleagues.Core task
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.Core task
- Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.Core task
- Recommend appropriate mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, long canes, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).Core task
- Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.Core task
- Refer clients to services, such as eye care, health care, rehabilitation, and counseling, to enhance visual and life functioning or when condition exceeds scope of practice.Core task
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.Core task
- Teach cane skills, including cane use with a guide, diagonal techniques, and two-point touches.Core task
- Teach clients to travel independently, using a variety of actual or simulated travel situations or exercises.Core task
- Teach independent living skills or techniques, such as adaptive eating, medication management, diabetes management, and personal management.Core task
- Teach self-advocacy skills to clients.Core task
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.Core task
- Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.Core task
- Train clients to use adaptive equipment, such as large print, reading stands, lamps, writing implements, software, and electronic devices.Core task
- Train clients to use tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and proprioceptive information.Core task
- Train clients with visual impairments to use mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).Core task
- Write reports or complete forms to document assessments, training, progress, or follow-up outcomes.Core task
- Administer tests and interpret test results to develop rehabilitation plans for clients.
- Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.
- Train clients to read or write Braille.
How that compares
Among the 65 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, occupational therapists rank 25. The group averages 4.1%, and its most exposed job is Medical Records Specialists at 66.7%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.
Just above in the ranking
- 338Funeral Home Managers 1.1%
- 338Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators 1.1%
- 340Civil Engineers 0.8%
Just below
What this does and does not mean
Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.
A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.
Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.