AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-1291.00
Will AI replace Acupuncturists?
Acupuncturists: AI can already handle 2 of 18 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 18 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Acupuncturists, from most to least exposed. 2 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Develop individual treatment plans and strategies. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Formulate herbal preparations to treat conditions considering herbal properties, such as taste, toxicity, effects of preparation, contraindications, and incompatibilities. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Dispense herbal formulas and inform patients of dosages and frequencies, treatment duration, possible side effects, and drug interactions. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Apply heat or cold therapy to patients using materials, such as heat pads, hydrocollator packs, warm compresses, cold compresses, heat lamps, or vapor coolants. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Apply moxibustion directly or indirectly to patients using Chinese, non-scarring, stick, or pole moxa. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 18 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 18 of 18. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 77% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 83% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 17% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 7,830
- Median annual wage
- $76,040
- Middle half of earners
- $55,380 to $102,280
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +6.8%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Naturopathic Physicians 61% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure54
- Chiropractors 58% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure47
- Massage Therapists 58% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure34
- Nurse Practitioners 57% skill overlap, about 16 months to move Exposure41
- Physical Therapists 57% skill overlap, about 16 months to move Exposure63
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Acupuncturists and AI
Will AI replace Acupuncturists?
AI already handles 2 of the 18 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 33 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +6.8% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Acupuncturists?
33 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 18 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 18 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Acupuncturists tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health; Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals. They are the tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 77% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Acupuncturists, and what do they earn?
7,830 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $76,040 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +6.8% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Acupuncturists. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/acupuncturists
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