Will AI replace Occupational Therapy Assistants?
Estimated risk score: 30 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 (11 to 49).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 22 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 31-2011.00 · 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: 4 of its 22 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling appointments, collecting data, or documenting health insurance billings.
- Observe and record patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior and maintain this information in client records.
- Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior.
- Attend continuing education classes.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 14 of its 22 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Aid patients in dressing and grooming themselves.
- Assemble, clean, or maintain equipment or materials for patient use.
- Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs.
- Teach patients how to deal constructively with their emotions.
- Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area.
- Alter treatment programs to obtain better results if treatment is not having the intended effect.
What the job is
Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures. May, in accordance with state laws, assist in development of treatment plans, carry out routine functions, direct activity programs, and document the progress of treatments. Generally requires formal training.
Also called: Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA), Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant (LOTA), Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant (COTA), OTA, COTA, LOTA, Travel COTA.
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