# Will AI replace physical therapists? Updated October 2026 Physical therapists score 38 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 60%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 13% outright, and 27% stays with people. - **13%** AI can do it - **60%** AI helps - **27%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Higher than 50% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 24 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 3 of them today, speeds up 14 and leaves 7 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Record prognosis, treatment, response, and progress in patient's chart or enter information into computer. Ambient scribes and LLMs can draft chart notes from sessions. | 80% AI can do it | | Provide educational information about physical therapy or physical therapists, injury prevention, ergonomics, or ways to promote health. Educational handouts on injury prevention and ergonomics are routine text generation. | 70% AI can do it | | Review physician's referral and patient's medical records to help determine diagnosis and physical therapy treatment required. LLMs can summarize referrals and records, therapist reviews the diagnosis. | 65% AI can do it | | Conduct or support research and apply research findings to practice. AI speeds literature review, analysis and drafting, researchers lead. | 55% AI helps | | Identify and document goals, anticipated progress, and plans for reevaluation. AI can draft measurable goals and reevaluation plans for clinician approval. | 50% AI helps | ## How physical therapists compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Physical therapists score 38**, 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 34 for healthcare practitioners and technical. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $102,760 a year, May 2025 People employed 267,330 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +11.9% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Edit AI-drafted SOAP notes in MEDITECH and eClinicalWorks - Set measurable goals and reevaluation plans for each patient - Perform manual therapy and traction with hands-on technique - Fit and adjust orthotic devices in person - Obtain informed consent through live patient conversation - Hold a state physical therapy license and APTA membership ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Physical therapist assistants19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapist-assistants/) - [Physiatrists35 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physiatrists/) - [Physical therapist aides19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapist-aides/) - [Occupational therapy assistants27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/occupational-therapy-assistants/) - [Occupational therapy aides28 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/occupational-therapy-aides/) ## Questions about physical therapists and AI Will physical therapists be replaced by AI? Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly charting session notes and reviewing referrals and medical records. Hands-on treatment, device fitting, and getting informed consent stay with people because they need a licensed therapist physically present with the patient. Will AI take over physiotherapy? AI can already do 13% of the task time in physiotherapy and speeds up another 60%. People still do 27% of it. The US has 267,330 physical therapist jobs, with a projected change of +11.9% from 2024 to 2034. Which physical therapist tasks is AI taking over? Chart documentation has the highest exposure at 80 out of 100, since ambient scribes and language models can draft notes from session recordings. Patient education handouts on injury prevention and ergonomics score 70, because they are routine text generation the therapist can review and approve. Which physical therapist tasks stay human? Manual exercise, massage, and traction score 3 out of 100 on exposure, so they stay with the therapist. Applying ultrasound and moist packs scores 4, and fitting prosthetic or orthotic devices scores 6, because each needs hands-on equipment work with a patient in the room. How can physical therapists stay valuable as AI takes on documentation? Spend the time saved on hands-on treatment and patient assessment, which score near zero exposure. Check every AI-drafted note in your EHR for accuracy before signing it. Build skill in manual therapy and orthotic fitting, since those tasks carry the lowest exposure in the job. ## Related jobs - [Occupational therapists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/occupational-therapists/) - [Orthopedic surgeons29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/orthopedic-surgeons/) - [Respiratory therapists24 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/respiratory-therapists/) - [Nurse practitioners49 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/nurse-practitioners/) ## Next steps for physical therapists - ### 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.