---
title: "Will AI Replace Anesthesiologists? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates anesthesiologists' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+3.6% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-anesthesiologists"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Anesthesiologists? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates anesthesiologists among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places anesthesiologists in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +3.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 1,100 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 50/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +3.6% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 1,100 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $391,490 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low (this job) | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Assisting and caring for others: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Analyzing data or information: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Examine patient, obtain medical history, and use diagnostic tests to determine risk during surgical, obstetrical, and other medical procedures.
- Administer anesthetic or sedation during medical procedures, using local, intravenous, spinal, or caudal methods.
- Record type and amount of anesthesia and patient condition throughout procedure.
- Monitor patient before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
- Decide when patients have recovered or stabilized enough to be sent to another room or ward or to be sent home following outpatient surgery.
- Coordinate administration of anesthetics with surgeons during operation.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon](https://nuecareer.com/careers/oral-and-maxillofacial-surgeon): BLS exposure Low, median $352,220
- [Nurse Anesthetist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nurse-anesthetist): BLS exposure Low, median $236,590; [Will AI replace nurse anesthetists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-nurse-anesthetists)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace anesthesiologists?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates anesthesiologists among the occupations least exposed to AI, and most of the work is the kind current AI tools cannot do. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +3.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 1,100 openings a year.

**How exposed are anesthesiologists to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Anesthesiologists are in the low category, alongside 202 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of an anesthesiologist's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are documenting/recording information, processing information and analyzing data or information. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, face-to-face discussions and performing for or working directly with the public. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being an anesthesiologist a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, anesthesiologists score 50 out of 100, higher than 61% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $391,490 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to anesthesiologists are less exposed to AI?**

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (low exposure, $352,220 median), Nurse Anesthetist (low exposure, $236,590 median). Each is also in the low category, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/anesthesiologist.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology