Will AI replace Speech-Language Pathologists?
Estimated risk score: 44 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 (25 to 63).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 24 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 29-1127.00 · 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: 4 of its 24 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Complete administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating paperwork, scheduling case management activities, or writing lesson plans.
- Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
- Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.
- Provide communication instruction to dialect speakers or students with limited English proficiency.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 6 of its 24 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments.
- Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
- Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement.
- Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
- Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms.
- Supervise students or assistants.
What the job is
Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use. May perform research related to speech and language problems.
Also called: Speech Pathologist, Speech and Language Specialist, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (Bilingual SLP), SLP, SNF RN, School SLP, Travel SLP.
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