AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 31-2012.00
Will AI replace Occupational Therapy Aides?
Occupational Therapy Aides: AI can already handle 1 of 15 tasks; the work mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 15 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Occupational Therapy Aides, from most to least exposed. 1 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evaluate the living skills and capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Assist occupational therapists in planning, implementing, and administering therapy programs to restore, reinforce, and enhance performance, using selected activities and special equipment. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Instruct patients and families in work, social, and living skills, the care and use of adaptive equipment, and other skills to facilitate home and work adjustment to disability. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Demonstrate therapy techniques, such as manual and creative arts and games. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Manage intradepartmental infection control and equipment security. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Supervise patients in choosing and completing work assignments or arts and crafts projects. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Accompany patients on outings, providing transportation when necessary. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Assist educational specialists or clinical psychologists in administering situational or diagnostic tests to measure client's abilities or progress. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Adjust and repair assistive devices and make adaptive changes to other equipment and to environments. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform clerical, administrative, and secretarial duties, such as answering phones, restocking and ordering supplies, filling out paperwork, and scheduling appointments. | 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 79% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 93% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 7% 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
- 4,310
- Median annual wage
- $39,160
- Middle half of earners
- $35,920 to $46,780
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +2.5%
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.
- Physical Therapist Aides 80% skill overlap, about 7 months to move Exposure36
- Occupational Therapy Assistants 79% skill overlap, about 7 months to move Exposure34
- Occupational Therapists 75% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure50
- Psychiatric Aides 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure29
- Home Health Aides 65% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure24
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Occupational Therapy Aides and AI
Will AI replace Occupational Therapy Aides?
AI already handles 1 of the 15 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 31 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 +2.5% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Occupational Therapy Aides?
31 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 Occupational Therapy Aides tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Evaluate the living skills and capacities of clients with physical, developmental, or mental health disabilities. It is the only task that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 79% 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 Occupational Therapy Aides, and what do they earn?
4,310 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $39,160 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +2.5% 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: Occupational Therapy Aides. 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/occupational-therapy-aides
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