---
title: "Will AI Replace Veterinary Technicians? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates veterinary technicians' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+9.4%…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-veterinary-technicians"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Veterinary 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 faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places veterinary 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 +9.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 59/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +9.4% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 13,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $47,380 | 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: 4.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Performing general physical activities: 4.2/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Face-to-face discussions: 4.3/5 (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: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Getting information: 4.3/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Processing information: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)
- Interpreting the meaning of information for others: 4.0/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians.
- Prepare animals for surgery, performing such tasks as shaving surgical areas.
- Clean kennels, animal holding areas, surgery suites, examination rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease.
- Provide assistance with animal euthanasia and the disposal of remains.
- Restrain animals during exams or procedures.
- Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than veterinary technicians

- [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 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)
- [Surgical Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/surgical-assistant): BLS exposure Low, median $66,800

## FAQ

**Will AI replace veterinary technicians?**

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 +9.4% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 13,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are veterinary technicians to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Veterinary 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 veterinary 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, getting information and processing information. The parts that hold up best are assisting and caring for others, performing general physical activities 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 technician a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, veterinary technicians score 59 out of 100, higher than 83% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $47,380 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 technicians are less exposed to AI?**

Paramedic (low exposure, $60,600 median), Surgical Technologist (low exposure, $64,650 median), Surgical Assistant (low exposure, $66,800 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than veterinary technicians, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/veterinary-technician.

---

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