AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-2055.00
Will AI replace Surgical Technologists?
Surgical Technologists: AI can already handle 2 of 16 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 16 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Surgical Technologists, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Observe patients' vital signs to assess physical condition. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after operation. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Prepare patients for surgery, including positioning patients on the operating table and covering them with sterile surgical drapes to prevent exposure. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Provide technical assistance to surgeons, surgical nurses, or anesthesiologists. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Hand instruments and supplies to surgeons and surgeons' assistants, hold retractors and cut sutures, and perform other tasks as directed by surgeon during operation. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Prepare, care for, and dispose of tissue specimens taken for laboratory analysis. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Wash and sterilize equipment, using germicides and sterilizers. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Prepare dressings or bandages and apply or assist with their application following surgery. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Order surgical supplies. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Maintain supply of fluids, such as plasma, saline, blood, or glucose, for use during operations. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Maintain files and records of surgical procedures. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Operate, assemble, adjust, or monitor sterilizers, lights, suction machines, or diagnostic equipment to ensure proper operation. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team to scrub and put on gloves, masks, and surgical clothing. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean and restock operating room, gathering and placing equipment and supplies and arranging instruments according to instructions, such as a preference card. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 16 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 16 of 16. 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 68% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 81% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 19% 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
- 117,460
- Median annual wage
- $64,650
- Middle half of earners
- $54,690 to $79,750
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +4.5%
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.
- Surgical Assistants 74% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure32
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians 70% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure36
- Endoscopy Technicians 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure51
- Radiologic Technologists and Technicians 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure36
- Veterinary Technologists and Technicians 64% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure50
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Surgical Technologists and AI
Will AI replace Surgical Technologists?
AI already handles 2 of the 16 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 42 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 +4.5% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Surgical Technologists?
42 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 16 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 16 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Surgical Technologists tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Monitor and continually assess operating room conditions, including patient and surgical team needs; Observe patients' vital signs to assess physical condition. They are the tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 68% 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 Surgical Technologists, and what do they earn?
117,460 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $64,650 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +4.5% 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: Surgical Technologists. 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/surgical-technologists
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