Will AI replace Respiratory Therapists?

What this score means

Respiratory Therapists is among the least exposed roles in Healthcare. Most of what the job involves still sits outside what current AI can do, even as the tools around it keep changing. At 21 out of 100 it scores 5 points below the Healthcare average of 26. Across the 4 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 19 to 25, 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 Respiratory Therapists, most central first, showing 12 of 22.

• 01Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
• 02Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
• 03Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
• 04Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
• 05Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
• 06Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
• 07Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
• 08Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
• 09Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
• 10Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
• 11Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.
• 12Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.

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 4 research sources that scored Respiratory 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
• 02Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure · 2025
• 03GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024
• 04AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023

Also covers

Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist · Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) · Hospital Respiratory Therapist · Inhalation Therapist · NICU Respiratory Therapist (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Respiratory Therapist) · Oxygen Therapist · Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) · Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP) and related titles

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