Will AI replace Occupational Therapists?

What this score means

Occupational Therapists leans toward the safer end for Healthcare. Parts of the role touch tasks AI is getting good at, but the core still depends on hands-on work or judgment that resists automation. At 31 out of 100 it scores 5 points above the Healthcare average of 26. Across the 3 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 20 to 39, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Occupational Therapists, most central first, showing 12 of 17.

• 01Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
• 02Complete and maintain necessary records.
• 03Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
• 04Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
• 05Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
• 06Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
• 07Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.
• 08Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
• 09Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
• 10Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
• 11Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
• 12Develop 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.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 3 research sources that scored Occupational Therapists for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Anthropic Economic Index 2026 - AI Task Exposure · 2026
• 02GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024
• 03AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023

Also covers

Assistive Technology Trainer · Certified Hand Therapist (CHT) · Early Intervention Occupational Therapist · Home Care Occupational Therapist (Home Care OT) · Home Health Occupational Therapist · Independent Living Specialist · Industrial Rehabilitation Consultant · Industrial Therapist and related titles

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