AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-1123.00

Will AI replace Physical Therapists?

Physical Therapists: AI can already handle 18 of 24 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.

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Every task, scored

The 24 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Physical Therapists, from most to least exposed. 18 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention. 75 Estimated Standard 4.8
Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer. 75 Estimated Standard 4.7
Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home. 75 Estimated Standard 4.7
Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Obtain patients' informed consent to proposed interventions. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.7
Provide information to the patient about the proposed intervention, its material risks and expected benefits, and any reasonable alternatives. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.4
Provide educational information about physical therapy or physical therapists, injury prevention, ergonomics, or ways to promote health. 75 Estimated Standard 4.4
Inform patients and refer to appropriate practitioners when diagnosis reveals findings outside physical therapy. 75 Estimated Standard 4.4
Discharge patient from physical therapy when goals or projected outcomes have been attained and provide for appropriate follow-up care or referrals. 75 Estimated Efficient 4.3
Refer clients to community resources or services. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.8
Conduct or support research and apply research findings to practice. 75 Estimated Efficient 3.5
Participate in community or community agency activities or help to formulate public policy. 75 Estimated Frontier 3.2
Direct group rehabilitation activities. 75 Estimated Frontier 3.1
Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit. 65 Estimated Standard 4.7
Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program. 65 Estimated Standard 4.7
Direct, supervise, assess, and communicate with supportive personnel. 65 Estimated Frontier 4.6
Review physician's referral and patient's medical records to help determine diagnosis and physical therapy treatment required. 65 Estimated Standard 4.6
Evaluate, fit, or adjust prosthetic or orthotic devices or recommend modification to orthotist. 65 Estimated Efficient 3.8
Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients. 50 Estimated Frontier 4.8
Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data. 50 Estimated Standard 4.6
Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation. 50 Estimated Frontier 4.6
Teach physical therapy students or those in other health professions. 35 Estimated Efficient 3.7
Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices. 20 Estimated Efficient 3.8
Administer treatment involving application of physical agents, using equipment, moist packs, ultraviolet or infrared lamps, or ultrasound machines. 10 Estimated No tier 3.9

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 24 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 24 of 24. 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 frontier-tier model or lower covers 96% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 96% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 4% 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
267,330
Median annual wage
$102,760
Middle half of earners
$86,160 to $121,160
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+10.9%

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.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Physical Therapists and AI

Will AI replace Physical Therapists?

AI already handles 18 of the 24 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 63 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 +10.9% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Physical Therapists?

63 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 24 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 24 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Physical Therapists tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention; Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer; Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home. They are three of the 18 tasks that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A frontier-tier model or lower covers 96% 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 Physical Therapists, and what do they earn?

267,330 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $102,760 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +10.9% 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: Physical Therapists. 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/physical-therapists

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