---
title: "Will AI Replace Physician Assistants? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates physician assistants' exposure to AI as low. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+21.1% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-physician-assistants"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Physician Assistants? (2026)

**Short answer:** Very unlikely. BLS rates physician 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 physician assistants in its low AI exposure category, among the occupations least exposed to current AI. BLS projects employment to change by +21.1% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,500 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Low | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 41/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +21.1% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 11,500 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $135,880 | 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: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 5.0/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.8/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Analyzing data or information: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.
- Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.
- Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.
- Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination.
- Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
- Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests.

## 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
- [Prosthodontist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/prosthodontist): BLS exposure Low, median $311,180
- [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)
- [Anesthesiologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/anesthesiologist): BLS exposure Low, median $391,490; [Will AI replace anesthesiologists?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-anesthesiologists)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace physician assistants?**

Very unlikely. BLS rates physician 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 +21.1% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 11,500 openings a year.

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

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Physician 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 physician 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, 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 a physician assistant a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, physician assistants score 41 out of 100, higher than 42% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $135,880 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 physician assistants are less exposed to AI?**

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon (low exposure, $352,220 median), Prosthodontist (low exposure, $311,180 median), Nurse Anesthetist (low exposure, $236,590 median), Anesthesiologist (low exposure, $391,490 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/physician-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