---
title: "Will AI Replace Athletic Trainers? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates athletic trainers' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+12.7% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-athletic-trainers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Athletic Trainers? (2026)

**Short answer:** Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places athletic trainers in its moderate AI exposure category, below the middle of the pack: some of the work overlaps with what AI can do, much of it does not. BLS projects employment to change by +12.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 2,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 47/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +12.7% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 2,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $62,520 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate (this job) | 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: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Email: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Repeating the same tasks: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Conduct an initial assessment of an athlete's injury or illness to provide emergency or continued care and to determine whether they should be referred to physicians for definitive diagnosis and treatment.
- Care for athletic injuries, using physical therapy equipment, techniques, or medication.
- Evaluate athletes' readiness to play and provide participation clearances when necessary and warranted.
- Perform general administrative tasks, such as keeping records or writing reports.
- Instruct coaches, athletes, parents, medical personnel, or community members in the care and prevention of athletic injuries.
- Apply protective or injury preventive devices, such as tape, bandages, or braces, to body parts, such as ankles, fingers, or wrists.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than athletic trainers

- [Paramedic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/paramedic): BLS exposure Low, median $60,600; [Will AI replace paramedics?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-paramedics)
- [Surgical Technologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-technologist): BLS exposure Low, median $64,650; [Will AI replace surgical technologists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-surgical-technologists)
- [Physical Therapist Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $68,380; [Will AI replace physical therapist assistants?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-physical-therapist-assistants)
- [Respiratory Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/respiratory-therapist): BLS exposure Low, median $82,280; [Will AI replace respiratory therapists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-respiratory-therapists)
- [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)
- [Dental Hygienist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-hygienist): BLS exposure Low, median $98,100; [Will AI replace dental hygienists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-dental-hygienists)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace athletic trainers?**

Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average. 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 +12.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 2,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are athletic trainers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Athletic Trainers are in the moderate category, alongside 193 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 athletic trainer'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, email and repeating the same tasks. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, face-to-face discussions and establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. 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 athletic trainer a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, athletic trainers score 47 out of 100, higher than 54% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $62,520 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 athletic trainers are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median), Surgical Technologist (low exposure, $64,650 median), Physical Therapist Assistant (low exposure, $68,380 median), Respiratory Therapist (low exposure, $82,280 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than athletic trainers, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/athletic-trainer.

---

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