---
title: "Will AI Replace Nursing Assistants? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates nursing assistants' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+2.6% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-nursing-assistants"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Nursing Assistants? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates nursing assistants 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 nursing assistants in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +2.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 196,200 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 52/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +2.6% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 196,200 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $42,260 | 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: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work context)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Provide physical support to assist patients to perform daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.
- Document or otherwise report observations of patient behavior, complaints, or physical symptoms to nurses.
- Communicate with patients to ascertain feelings or need for assistance or social and emotional support.
- Undress, wash, and dress patients who are unable to do so for themselves.
- Change bed linens or make beds.
- Feed patients or assist patients to eat or drink.

## Related careers that are also low-exposure

- [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 Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $66,800
- [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)
- [Physical Therapist Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physical-therapist-aide): BLS exposure Low, median $35,240
- [Dental Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $48,070; [Will AI replace dental assistants?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-dental-assistants)
- [Medical Equipment Preparer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-equipment-preparer): BLS exposure Low, median $47,700

## FAQ

**Will AI replace nursing assistants?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates nursing assistants 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 +2.6% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 196,200 openings a year.

**How exposed are nursing assistants to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Nursing Assistants 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 a nursing assistant'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, getting information and repeating the same tasks. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, performing general physical activities 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 a nursing assistant a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, nursing assistants score 52 out of 100, higher than 66% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $42,260 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 nursing assistants are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median), Surgical Assistant (low exposure, $66,800 median), Physical Therapist Assistant (low exposure, $68,380 median), Physical Therapist Aide (low exposure, $35,240 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/nursing-assistant.

---

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