---
title: "Will AI Replace Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians?"
description: "BLS rates medical and clinical laboratory technicians' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-medical-and-clinical-laboratory-technicians"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians? (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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places medical and clinical laboratory technicians 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 +2.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 20,800 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 40/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +2.7% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 20,800 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $62,930 | 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: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Hands-on work with tools and objects: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Perform quality control analyses to ensure accuracy of test results.
- Conduct chemical analyses of body fluids, such as blood or urine, using microscope or automatic analyzer to detect abnormalities or diseases and enter findings into computer.
- Analyze the results of tests or experiments to ensure conformity to specifications, using special mechanical or electrical devices.
- Set up, maintain, calibrate, clean, and test sterility of medical laboratory equipment.
- Conduct blood tests for transfusion purposes and perform blood counts.
- Examine cells stained with dye to locate abnormalities.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than medical and clinical laboratory technicians

- [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)
- [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)
- [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)
- [Phlebotomist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/phlebotomist): BLS exposure Low, median $45,230; [Will AI replace phlebotomists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-phlebotomists)
- [Licensed Practical Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/licensed-practical-nurse): BLS exposure Low, median $64,400; [Will AI replace licensed practical nurses?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-licensed-practical-nurses)
- [Physician Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physician-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $135,880; [Will AI replace physician assistants?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-physician-assistants)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace medical and clinical laboratory technicians?**

Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow. 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 +2.7% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 20,800 openings a year.

**How exposed are medical and clinical laboratory technicians to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians 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 a medical and clinical laboratory technician'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, repeating the same tasks and evaluating information to determine compliance with standards. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, face-to-face discussions and inspecting equipment, structures, or materials. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a medical and clinical laboratory technician a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, medical and clinical laboratory technicians score 40 out of 100, higher than 40% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $62,930 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 medical and clinical laboratory technicians are less exposed to AI?**

Surgical Technologist (low exposure, $64,650 median), Respiratory Therapist (low exposure, $82,280 median), Dental Hygienist (low exposure, $98,100 median), Phlebotomist (low exposure, $45,230 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than medical and clinical laboratory technicians, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-and-clinical-laboratory-technician.

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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