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AI exposure Healthcare practitioners and technical

Will AI replace physicians?

Physicians, All Other, also called doctors. US occupation 29-1229.

3.0%

of the time physicians spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of physicians' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.

Ranked 299 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 59% of them.Further along than 59% of them.

Average US job 7.7%

Around the middle of the pack.Keeping pace with the average job.

What AI already does for physiciansWhat physicians no longer do alone

O*NET lists 101 tasks for physicians. AI use at work shows up in 5 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.

  1. Document or review patients' histories.Core task mostly automated 1.00
  2. Develop individualized treatment plans for patients, considering patient preferences, clinical data, or the risks and benefits of therapies.Core task mostly automated 0.92
  3. Educate patients about diagnoses, prognoses, or treatments.Core task mostly automated 0.86
  4. Interpret diagnostic test results to make appropriate differential diagnoses.Core task automated and assisted 0.76
  5. Document patients' medical histories.Core task automated and assisted 0.72

What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human

96 of the 101 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.

  • Admit patients for hospital stays.Core task
  • Advise against injured athletes returning to games or competition if resuming activity could lead to further injury.Core task
  • Advise athletes on ways that substances, such as herbal remedies, could affect drug testing results.Core task
  • Advise athletes, trainers, or coaches to alter or cease sports practices that are potentially harmful.Core task
  • Advise coaches, trainers, or physical therapists on the proper use of exercises and other therapeutic techniques, and alert them to potentially dangerous practices.Core task
  • Assess characteristics of patients' pain, such as intensity, location, or duration, using standardized clinical measures.Core task
Show the other 90
  • Assess the risks and benefits of therapies for allergic and immunologic disorders.Core task
  • Attend games and competitions to provide evaluation and treatment of activity-related injuries or medical conditions.Core task
  • Attend inpatient consultations in areas of specialty.Core task
  • Communicate with patients' primary care physicians upon admission, when treatment plans change, or at discharge to maintain continuity and quality of care.Core task
  • Conduct discharge planning and discharge patients.Core task
  • Conduct physical examinations of patients.Core task
  • Conduct physical tests, such as functional capacity evaluations, to determine injured workers' capabilities to perform the physical demands of their jobs.Core task
  • Conduct research in the prevention or treatment of injuries or medical conditions related to sports and exercise.Core task
  • Consult or coordinate with other rehabilitative professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, rehabilitation nurses, speech pathologists, neuropsychologists, behavioral psychologists, social workers, or medical technicians.Core task
  • Coordinate or integrate the resources of health care institutions, social service agencies, public safety workers, or other organizations to improve community health.Core task
  • Coordinate physical medicine and rehabilitation services with other medical activities.Core task
  • Coordinate sports care activities with other experts, including specialty physicians and surgeons, athletic trainers, physical therapists, or coaches.Core task
  • Coordinate the care of patients with other health care professionals or support staff.Core task
  • Deliver presentations to lay or professional audiences.Core task
  • Design or use surveillance tools, such as screening, lab reports, and vital records, to identify health risks.Core task
  • Design, implement, or evaluate health service delivery systems to improve the health of targeted populations.Core task
  • Develop and prescribe exercise programs, such as off-season conditioning regimens.Core task
  • Develop and test procedures for dealing with emergencies during practices or competitions.Core task
  • Develop comprehensive plans for immediate and long-term rehabilitation, including therapeutic exercise, speech and occupational therapy, counseling, cognitive retraining, patient, family or caregiver education, or community reintegration.Core task
  • Develop or implement interventions to address behavioral causes of diseases.Core task
  • Diagnose or treat allergic or immunologic conditions.Core task
  • Diagnose or treat diseases or disorders of genitourinary organs and tracts including erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, incontinence, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, urethral stones, or premature ejaculation.Core task
  • Diagnose or treat disorders of the musculoskeletal system.Core task
  • Diagnose or treat performance-related conditions, such as sports injuries or repetitive-motion injuries.Core task
  • Diagnose, treat, or provide continuous care to hospital inpatients.Core task
  • Direct or manage prevention programs in specialty areas such as aerospace, occupational, infectious disease, and environmental medicine.Core task
  • Direct or support quality improvement projects or safety programs.Core task
  • Direct public health education programs dealing with topics such as preventable diseases, injuries, nutrition, food service sanitation, water supply safety, sewage and waste disposal, insect control, and immunizations.Core task
  • Direct the operations of short stay or specialty units.Core task
  • Direct the work of nurses, residents, or other staff to provide patient care.Core task
  • Direct, coordinate, or supervise the patient care activities of nursing or support staff.Core task
  • Document examination results, treatment plans, and patients' outcomes.Core task
  • Document or review comprehensive patients' histories with an emphasis on occupation or environmental risks.Core task
  • Engage in self-directed learning and continuing education activities.Core task
  • Evaluate and manage chronic pain conditions.Core task
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of prescribed risk reduction measures or other interventions.Core task
  • Examine and evaluate athletes prior to participation in sports activities to determine level of physical fitness or predisposition to injuries.Core task
  • Examine patients to assess mobility, strength, communication, or cognition.Core task
  • Examine patients using equipment, such as radiograph (x-ray) machines or fluoroscopes, to determine the nature and extent of disorder or injury.Core task
  • Examine, evaluate and treat athletes who have been injured or who have medical problems such as exercise-induced asthma.Core task
  • Identify groups at risk for specific preventable diseases or injuries.Core task
  • Inform athletes about nutrition, hydration, dietary supplements, or uses and possible consequences of medication.Core task
  • Inform coaches, trainers, or other interested parties regarding the medical conditions of athletes.Core task
  • Instruct interns and residents in the diagnosis and treatment of temporary or permanent physically disabling conditions.Core task
  • Monitor effectiveness of pain management interventions, such as medication or spinal injections.Core task
  • Observe and evaluate athletes' mental well-being.Core task
  • Order and interpret the results of diagnostic tests, such as prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening, to detect prostate cancer.Core task
  • Order and interpret the results of laboratory tests and diagnostic imaging procedures.Core task
  • Order or interpret the results of tests such as laboratory tests and radiographs (x-rays).Core task
  • Order or perform diagnostic tests such as skin pricks and intradermal, patch, or delayed hypersensitivity tests.Core task
  • Participate in continuing education activities to improve and maintain knowledge and skills.Core task
  • Participate in continuing education activities to maintain or enhance knowledge and skills.Core task
  • Perform abdominal, pelvic, or retroperitoneal surgeries.Core task
  • Perform allergen provocation tests such as nasal, conjunctival, bronchial, oral, food, or medication challenges.Core task
  • Perform brachytherapy, cryotherapy, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or photodynamic therapy to treat prostate or other cancers.Core task
  • Perform electrodiagnosis, including electromyography, nerve conduction studies, or somatosensory evoked potentials of neuromuscular disorders or damage.Core task
  • Perform epidemiological investigations of acute and chronic diseases.Core task
  • Prepare preventive health reports, including problem descriptions, analyses, alternative solutions, and recommendations.Core task
  • Prescribe medication such as antihistamines, antibiotics, and nasal, oral, topical, or inhaled glucocorticosteroids.Core task
  • Prescribe medications for the treatment of athletic-related injuries.Core task
  • Prescribe medications or treatment regimens to hospital inpatients.Core task
  • Prescribe medications to treat patients with erectile dysfunction (ED), infertility, or ejaculation problems.Core task
  • Prescribe or administer antibiotics, antiseptics, or compresses to treat infection or injury.Core task
  • Prescribe orthotic and prosthetic applications and adaptive equipment, such as wheelchairs, bracing, or communication devices, to maximize patient function and self-sufficiency.Core task
  • Prescribe orthotics, prosthetics, and adaptive equipment.Core task
  • Prescribe physical therapy to relax the muscles and improve strength.Core task
  • Prescribe therapy services, such as electrotherapy, ultrasonography, heat or cold therapy, hydrotherapy, debridement, short-wave or microwave diathermy, and infrared or ultraviolet radiation, to enhance rehabilitation.Core task
  • Provide allergy or immunology consultation or education to physicians or other health care providers.Core task
  • Provide coaches and therapists with assistance in selecting and fitting protective equipment.Core task
  • Provide education and counseling on illness and injury prevention.Core task
  • Provide information about potential health hazards and possible interventions to the media, the public, other health care professionals, or local, state, and federal health authorities.Core task
  • Provide inpatient or outpatient medical management of neuromuscular disorders, musculoskeletal trauma, acute and chronic pain, deformity or amputation, cardiac or pulmonary disease, or other disabling conditions.Core task
  • Provide therapies, such as allergen immunotherapy or immunoglobin therapy, to treat immune conditions.Core task
  • Provide urology consultation to physicians or other health care professionals.Core task
  • Record athletes' medical care information, and maintain medical records.Core task
  • Record athletes' medical histories, and perform physical examinations.Core task
  • Refer athletes for specialized consultation, physical therapy, or diagnostic testing.Core task
  • Refer patients to medical specialists, social services, or other professionals as appropriate.Core task
  • Refer patients to specialists when condition exceeds experience, expertise, or scope of practice.Core task
  • Select and prepare medical equipment or medications to be taken to athletic competition sites.Core task
  • Supervise or coordinate the work of physicians, nurses, statisticians, or other professional staff members.Core task
  • Supervise the rehabilitation of injured athletes.Core task
  • Teach or train medical and clinical staff.Core task
  • Teach or train medical staff regarding preventive medicine issues.Core task
  • Train or supervise medical students, residents, or other health professionals.Core task
  • Treat lower urinary tract dysfunctions using equipment such as diathermy machines, catheters, cystoscopes, or radium emanation tubes.Core task
  • Treat urologic disorders using alternatives to traditional surgery such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, laparoscopy, or laser techniques.Core task
  • Write patient discharge summaries and send them to primary care physicians.Core task
  • Conduct laboratory or clinical research on allergy or immunology topics.
  • Present research findings at national meetings or in peer-reviewed journals.

How that compares

Among the 65 healthcare practitioners and technical occupations, physicians rank 21. 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%.

All 756 occupations, ranked

Level with 3.0%

  1. 299First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers 3.0%
  2. 299Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists 3.0%
  3. 299Patternmakers, Wood 3.0%

Just below

  1. 304Construction Laborers 2.8%
  2. 304Driver/Sales Workers 2.8%
  3. 304Historians 2.8%

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.