# Will adapted physical education specialists be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Adapted physical education specialists score 42 out of 100 for AI exposure. AI helps with 49% of their task time, and they stay in charge. AI can do another 18%. 33% needs a person. - **18%** AI can do it - **49%** AI helps - **33%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Higher than 56% of the 923 jobs we scored. ## Task by task We graded 20 tasks, most exposed first. AI can do 4 of them, helps with 10 and leaves 6 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Write reports to summarize student performance, social growth, or physical development. Summarizing performance and growth into reports is strong text generation work. | 72% AI can do it | | Maintain thorough student records to document attendance, participation, or progress, ensuring confidentiality of all records. Digital attendance and progress records are routine and AI can maintain. | 70% AI can do it | | Prepare lesson plans in accordance with individualized education plans (IEPs) and the functional abilities or needs of students. Lesson plans tied to IEP goals can be drafted quickly; teacher reviews. | 68% AI can do it | | Request or order physical education equipment, following standard procedures. Standard equipment requests follow set forms and can be filled automatically. | 65% AI can do it | | Write or modify individualized education plans (IEPs) for students with intellectual or physical disabilities. AI can draft IEP language from data; team and legal sign-off remain. | 60% AI helps | ## How adapted physical education specialists compare All jobs (923) Educational instruction and library (62) The dark line is **adapted physical education specialists, at 42**. Each dot is a score, and darker dots mean more jobs share it. The short marks are the averages, 37 for all jobs and 45 for educational instruction and library. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $76,580 a year, May 2025 People employed 33,930 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +1.9% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Hold a state adapted physical education teaching credential - Write IEP present levels and goals in IEP software - Lead IEP team meetings and sign off physical education goals - Teach gross motor skills to students one-on-one in gyms - Review AI-drafted lesson plans against each student's IEP goals - Build progress charts from student data in Microsoft Excel ## Safer roles nearby 5 related jobs with lower scores. - [Kindergarten special education teachers35 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/kindergarten-special-education-teachers/) - [Special education teachers36 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/special-education-teachers/) - [Preschool special education teachers34 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/preschool-special-education-teachers/) - [Middle school special education teachers38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/middle-school-special-education-teachers/) - [High school teachers41 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-school-teachers/) ## Questions about adapted physical education specialists and AI Will AI replace adapted physical education specialists? Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly writing performance reports and keeping student attendance and progress records. Hands-on instruction and encouragement stay with specialists because they need a person in the gym with each student. Which tasks will AI take over for adapted physical education specialists? Writing performance reports leads with an exposure score of 72, because summarizing growth data is strong text generation work. Maintaining attendance and progress records follows at 70, since digital logs are routine. Lesson plans drafted from IEP goals score 68 and still need teacher review before use. Which tasks stay with adapted physical education specialists? Providing adapted instruction to individuals or small groups scores 4, the lowest in the job, because it needs hands-on work with students. Teaching gross motor skills scores 5, and serving students with autism or orthopedic impairments also scores 5 for the same reason. Positive feedback scores 10 because it depends on in-person interaction. How can adapted physical education specialists stay valuable? Lead the IEP meeting and take responsibility for the goals in IEP software, since team and legal sign-off remain human decisions. Check every AI-drafted lesson plan against each student's functional abilities before class. Spend the hours saved on hands-on instruction in the gym, and keep a state adapted physical education credential current. ## Related jobs - [High school special education teachers42 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-school-special-education-teachers/) - [Instructional coordinators59 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/instructional-coordinators/) - [Kinesiology professors53 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/kinesiology-professors/) - [Special education assistants30 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/special-education-assistants/) ## Next steps for adapted physical education specialists - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV to see which tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) - ### Estimate team savings The score is per person. Add headcount and salary to see the hours AI can take on in a team of adapted physical education specialists, and what they cost. [Estimate what AI saves a team of adapted physical education specialists](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/team-ai-audit/?role=adapted-physical-education-specialists) [Work out the return on automation](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-savings-calculator/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Roustabouts score lowest, at 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Pediatric surgeons earn a median $559,030 and score 29.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Roustabouts need little prior training and score 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**AI helps with 98% of the task time for health informatics specialists.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we score, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 job groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Sources and licences Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.