Will AI replace Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers?
Estimated risk score: 28 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 (9 to 47).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 28 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 31-9096.00 · 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: 5 of its 28 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Perform accounting duties, such as bookkeeping, billing customers for services, or maintaining inventories.
- Record information relating to animal genealogy, feeding schedules, appearance, behavior, or breeding.
- Write reports, maintain research information, or perform clerical duties.
- Perform office reception duties, such as scheduling appointments or helping customers.
- Place orders to restock inventory of hospital or laboratory supplies.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 19 of its 28 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Administer medication, immunizations, or blood plasma to animals as prescribed by veterinarians.
- Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Clean, maintain, and sterilize instruments or equipment.
- Collect laboratory specimens, such as blood, urine, or feces, for testing.
- Dust, spray, or bathe animals to control insect pests.
- Exercise animals or provide them with companionship.
What the job is
Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics. Clean and disinfect cages and work areas, and sterilize laboratory and surgical equipment. May provide routine postoperative care, administer medication orally or topically, or prepare samples for laboratory examination under the supervision of veterinary or laboratory animal technologists or technicians, veterinarians, or scientists.
Also called: Animal Care Provider, Certified Veterinary Assistant, Veterinarian Assistant (Vet Assistant), Vet Helper, Avian Keeper, Vet Receptionist, Kennel Vet Assistant, Vet Kennel Assistant.
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