Will AI replace Medical Appliance Technicians?
Estimated risk score: 8 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 (0 to 27).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 15 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 51-9082.00 · Production
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 15 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 12 of its 15 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Bend, form, and shape fabric or material to conform to prescribed contours of structural components.
- Cover or pad metal or plastic structures or devices, using coverings such as rubber, leather, felt, plastic, or fiberglass.
- Drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices.
- Fit appliances onto patients, and make any necessary adjustments.
- Lay out and mark dimensions of parts, using templates and precision measuring instruments.
- Make orthotic or prosthetic devices, using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand or power tools.
What the job is
Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances.
Also called: Orthotic Technician, Prosthetics Technician, Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician (O and P Technician), Brace Maker, Orthotics Fitter, Medical Assembler, Arch Support Maker, O and P Technician.
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