Will AI replace Acupuncturists?
Estimated risk score: 25 out of 100
Lower replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (6 to 44).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 18 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 29-1291.00 · Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 3 of its 18 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
- Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
- Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 15 of its 18 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Apply heat or cold therapy to patients using materials, such as heat pads, hydrocollator packs, warm compresses, cold compresses, heat lamps, or vapor coolants.
- Apply moxibustion directly or indirectly to patients using Chinese, non-scarring, stick, or pole moxa.
- Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses.
- Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
- Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
- Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina.
What the job is
Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.
Also called: Herbalist, Acupuncture Physician, Licensed Acupuncturist (LAC), LAC, Chinese MD, Acupressurist, Acupuncture Doctor, Auricular Therapist.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Healthcare Practitioners and Technical). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate