Will AI replace Massage Therapists?
Estimated risk score: 21 out of 100
Very low 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 (2 to 40).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 14 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 31-9011.00 · Healthcare Support
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: 1 of its 14 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain treatment records.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 13 of its 14 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Apply finger and hand pressure to specific points of the body.
- Assess clients' soft tissue condition, joint quality and function, muscle strength, and range of motion.
- Maintain massage areas by restocking supplies or sanitizing equipment.
- Massage and knead muscles and soft tissues of the body to provide treatment for medical conditions, injuries, or wellness maintenance.
- Perform other adjunctive therapies or treatment techniques in addition to massage.
- Prepare and blend oils and apply the blends to clients' skin.
What the job is
Perform therapeutic massages of soft tissues and joints. May assist in the assessment of range of motion and muscle strength, or propose client therapy plans.
Also called: Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), Certified Massage Therapist (CMT), Licensed Massage Practitioner (LMP), CMT, LMP, LMT, RMT, Rolfer.
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