# Will occupational therapy assistants be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Occupational therapy assistants score 27 of 100 for AI exposure. 49% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 8% today and speed up another 43%. - **8%** AI can do it - **43%** AI helps - **49%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 67% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 22 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 9 and leaves 11 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling appointments, collecting data, or documenting health insurance billings. Scheduling, data collection, and billing paperwork are highly automatable. | 75% AI can do it | | Order any needed educational or treatment supplies. Supply ordering is routine digital work with light approval. | 65% AI can do it | | Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior. AI can draft progress reports from notes; verbal reporting stays human. | 55% AI helps | | Observe and record patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior and maintain this information in client records. Ambient note tools can draft records from observations and dictation. | 55% AI helps | | Attend care plan meetings to review patient progress and update care plans. AI can update care plan documents; meeting attendance stays human. | 40% AI helps | ## How occupational therapy assistants compare All occupations (923) Healthcare support (19) **Occupational therapy assistants score 27**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 26 for healthcare support. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $72,300 a year, May 2025 People employed 51,290 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +21.5% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Hold the NBCOT COTA credential and state license - Document treatment progress in eClinicalWorks EHR software - Demonstrate manual and creative arts techniques in person - Assist patients with dressing and grooming hands-on - Report patient progress verbally to supervising occupational therapists ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Physical therapist assistants19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapist-assistants/) - [Physical therapist aides19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapist-aides/) - [Psychiatric technicians22 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/psychiatric-technicians/) - [Respiratory therapists24 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/respiratory-therapists/) - [Licensed practical nurses22 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/licensed-practical-nurses/) ## Questions about occupational therapy assistants and AI Will AI replace occupational therapy assistants? Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly clerical paperwork like scheduling and billing, plus progress documentation drafted from notes. Hands-on treatment, patient rapport, and live activity guidance stay with people because they need a person physically in the room. Which tasks is AI taking over for occupational therapy assistants? Clerical duties such as scheduling appointments and documenting insurance billings score 75 on exposure, the highest in this job. Supply ordering scores 65 because it is routine digital work with light approval, and progress records drafted from observation notes score 55 in the EHR. Which tasks stay with occupational therapy assistants? Dressing and grooming assistance scores 3 on exposure, and transporting patients also scores 3, because both need physical handling of a body. Demonstrating therapy techniques scores 8 since it requires physical presence, and encouraging patients during live activities scores 10 for the same reason. How can occupational therapy assistants stay valuable? Take on the review step for AI-drafted notes in eClinicalWorks, checking each entry against what you observed. Lead live activity groups and demonstrate techniques in person, and attend care plan meetings to report progress verbally to supervising occupational therapists. Keep your NBCOT COTA credential and state license current. ## Related jobs - [Medical assistants32 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/medical-assistants/) - [Massage therapists20 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/massage-therapists/) - [Occupational therapists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/occupational-therapists/) - [Physical therapists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapists/) ## Next steps for occupational therapy assistants - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your 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/) ### 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**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](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**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](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 publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation 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/) 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.