Will anesthesiologist assistants be replaced by AI?
Updated
Anesthesiologist assistants score 19 of 100 for AI exposure. 67% of their task time still needs a person. AI speeds up the other 33%.
- 33% AI helps
- 67% Needs a person
Low exposure
Lower than 82% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 16 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 6 and leaves 10 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Collect and document patients' pre-anesthetic health histories. AI can draft histories from charts; patient interview stays human. | 55% AI helps |
| Monitor and document patients' progress during post-anesthesia period. Monitoring recovering patients is physical; AI can draft notes. | 40% AI helps |
| Verify availability of operating room supplies, medications, and gases. Physical counts dominate; AI helps with inventory tracking and reorders. | 35% AI helps |
| Assist anesthesiologists in monitoring of patients, including electrocardiogram (EKG), direct arterial pressure, central venous pressure, arterial blood gas, hematocrit, or routine measurement of temperature, respiration, blood pressure or heart rate. Monitors already automate readings; AI can flag trends and alerts. | 35% AI helps |
| Provide clinical instruction, supervision or training to staff in areas such as anesthesia practices. Teaching is human; AI can draft training materials and quizzes. | 30% AI helps |
| Assist in the application of monitoring techniques, such as pulmonary artery catheterization, electroencephalographic spectral analysis, echocardiography, or evoked potentials. Catheter placement is physical; AI can help read EEG output. | 22% AI helps |
| Participate in seminars, workshops, or other professional activities to keep abreast of developments in anesthesiology. Attending is human; AI can summarize course content afterward. | 18% Needs a person |
| Pretest and calibrate anesthesia delivery systems and monitors. Mostly physical machine checks; automatic self tests help a little. | 15% Needs a person |
| Control anesthesia levels during procedures. Live titration of anesthetic depth needs constant clinical judgment. | 12% Needs a person |
| Administer blood, blood products, or supportive fluids. Physical IV access and transfusion; AI only supports checks. | 8% Needs a person |
Show the other 6 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Collect samples or specimens for diagnostic testing. Sampling is physical; AI can handle labels and order entry. | 7% Needs a person |
| Administer anesthetic, adjuvant, or accessory drugs under the direction of an anesthesiologist. Giving drugs is physical; AI only helps with dose checks. | 6% Needs a person |
| Provide airway management interventions including tracheal intubation, fiber optics, or ventilary support. Physical intubation and airway work at the bedside. | 4% Needs a person |
| Respond to emergency situations by providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), basic cardiac life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), or pediatric advanced life support (PALS). Live emergency resuscitation requires physical hands-on response. | 4% Needs a person |
| Assist in the provision of advanced life support techniques including those procedures using high frequency ventilation or intra-arterial cardiovascular assistance devices. Specialized life support devices need skilled hands at the bedside. | 4% Needs a person |
| Assist anesthesiologists in performing anesthetic procedures, such as epidural or spinal injections. Needle placement for spinal and epidural blocks is physical work. | 2% Needs a person |
How anesthesiologist assistants compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare practitioners and technical (89)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $135,880 a year, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +21.1% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Conduct pre-anesthetic patient interviews and airway assessments
- Document intraoperative records in eClinicalWorks or PrognoCIS
- Hold the NCCAA Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant credential
- Keep ACLS and PALS certifications current for emergency response
- Assist with spinal and epidural block procedures at the bedside
Safer roles nearby
3 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about anesthesiologist assistants and AI
Will AI replace anesthesiologist assistants?
Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drafting pre-anesthetic histories and post-anesthesia progress notes. Patient interviews, airway management and drug delivery stay with people because they need hands at the bedside and a person in the room.
Which anesthesiologist assistant tasks will AI take over?
Drafting pre-anesthetic histories has the highest exposure score at 55, since AI can build histories from existing charts while the patient interview stays human. Post-anesthesia progress notes score 40, and AI can draft them from monitor data. Tracking supplies, medications and gases scores 35, with AI handling inventory reorders.
Which anesthesiologist assistant tasks stay human?
Administering anesthetic drugs under an anesthesiologist's direction scores only 6, since giving drugs is physical and AI only helps with dose checks. Airway management, including intubation, scores 4 because it happens at the bedside with hands on the patient. Spinal and epidural block placement scores 2 for the same reason.
How can anesthesiologist assistants stay valuable?
Hold the NCCAA certification and keep ACLS current, since emergency response is hands-on work. Learn to read EEG and echocardiography output so you can check AI flags against the patient in front of you. Use eClinicalWorks or PrognoCIS to review AI-drafted histories before you sign off, and teach residents anesthesia practice at the bedside.
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