AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 51-9082.00
Will AI replace Medical Appliance Technicians?
Medical Appliance Technicians: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 15 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 15 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Medical Appliance Technicians, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repair, modify, or maintain medical supportive devices, such as artificial limbs, braces, or surgical supports, according to specifications. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Service or repair machinery used in the fabrication of appliances. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Make orthotic or prosthetic devices, using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand or power tools. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Construct or receive casts or impressions of patients' torsos or limbs for use as cutting and fabrication patterns. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Cover or pad metal or plastic structures or devices, using coverings such as rubber, leather, felt, plastic, or fiberglass. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Test medical supportive devices for proper alignment, movement, or biomechanical stability, using meters and alignment fixtures. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Lay out and mark dimensions of parts, using templates and precision measuring instruments. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Fit appliances onto patients, and make any necessary adjustments. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Polish artificial limbs, braces, or supports, using grinding and buffing wheels. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Mix pigments to match patients' skin coloring, according to formulas, and apply mixtures to orthotic or prosthetic devices. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Take patients' body or limb measurements for use in device construction. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Instruct patients in use of prosthetic or orthotic devices. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Bend, form, and shape fabric or material to conform to prescribed contours of structural components. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 15 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 15 of 15. 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
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 13% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 13% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 88% 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
- 11,280
- Median annual wage
- $48,030
- Middle half of earners
- $42,210 to $60,580
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +3.7%
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.
- Dental Laboratory Technicians 67% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure22
- Orthotists and Prosthetists 65% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure48
- Medical Equipment Preparers 65% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure42
- Medical Equipment Repairers 64% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure27
- Ophthalmic Medical Technicians 62% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure32
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Medical Appliance Technicians and AI
Will AI replace Medical Appliance Technicians?
Not on current evidence. None of the 15 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 15 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.
What is the AI exposure of Medical Appliance Technicians?
15 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 15 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 15 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Medical Appliance Technicians tasks can AI already do?
None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Repair, modify, or maintain medical supportive devices, such as artificial limbs, braces, or surgical supports, according to specifications, at 20 out of 100.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 13% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 88% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. 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 Medical Appliance Technicians, and what do they earn?
11,280 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $48,030 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +3.7% 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: Medical Appliance Technicians. 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/medical-appliance-technicians
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