---
title: "Will AI Replace Occupational Therapists? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates occupational therapists' exposure to AI as high. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+14.8%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-occupational-therapists"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Occupational Therapists? (2026)

**Short answer:** Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places occupational therapists in its high AI exposure category, above the middle of the pack: a substantial share of the work overlaps with what AI can do. BLS projects employment to change by +14.8% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 10,000 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | High | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 52/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +14.8% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 10,000 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $100,330 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate | 194 |
| High (this job) | 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)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.7/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Email: 4.7/5 (O\*NET work context)

## O\*NET tasks

- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
- Complete and maintain necessary records.
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
- Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
- Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than occupational therapists

- [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)
- [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)
- [Occupational Therapy Aide](https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-therapy-aide): BLS exposure Moderate, median $39,160
- [Recreational Therapist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/recreational-therapist): BLS exposure Moderate, median $61,960
- [Dentist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dentist): BLS exposure Moderate, median $170,950; [Will AI replace dentists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-dentists)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace occupational therapists?**

Not replaced, but changed. BLS rates the exposure as high, so AI can help with a real share of the work, yet it 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 +14.8% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 10,000 openings a year.

**How exposed are occupational therapists to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Occupational Therapists are in the high category, alongside 189 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 occupational therapist'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 getting information. 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 occupational therapist a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, occupational therapists score 52 out of 100, higher than 66% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $100,330 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 occupational therapists are less exposed to AI?**

Physical Therapist Assistant (low exposure, $68,380 median), Respiratory Therapist (low exposure, $82,280 median), Dental Hygienist (low exposure, $98,100 median), Occupational Therapy Aide (moderate exposure, $39,160 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than occupational therapists, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/occupational-therapist.

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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