---
title: "Will AI Replace Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers?"
description: "BLS rates veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-veterinary-assistants-and-laboratory-animal-caretakers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers? (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 veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers 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 +9.1% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 23,200 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 58/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +9.1% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 23,200 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $38,150 | 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

- Performing general physical activities: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Assisting and caring for others: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Documenting/recording information: 4.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Repeating the same tasks: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Processing information: 3.6/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Working with computers: 3.9/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures.
- Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Assist veterinarians in examining animals to determine the nature of illnesses or injuries.
- Provide assistance with euthanasia of animals or disposal of corpses.
- Provide emergency first aid to sick or injured animals.
- Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers

- [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)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers?**

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 +9.1% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 23,200 openings a year.

**How exposed are veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers 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 veterinary assistant and laboratory animal caretaker'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 processing information. The parts that hold up best are performing general physical activities, assisting and caring for others and face-to-face discussions. 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 veterinary assistant and laboratory animal caretaker a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers score 58 out of 100, higher than 81% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $38,150 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 veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers 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). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-assistant-and-laboratory-animal-caretaker.

---

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