Will AI replace physical therapists?
Updated
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 |
| Refer clients to community resources or services. AI can search and compile community resource lists for the therapist. | 45% AI helps |
| Teach physical therapy students or those in other health professions. AI can prepare lectures and feedback, but clinical teaching is in person. | 40% AI helps |
| Plan, prepare, or carry out individually designed programs of physical treatment to maintain, improve, or restore physical functioning, alleviate pain, or prevent physical dysfunction in patients. AI can draft plans, but hands-on delivery stays with the therapist. | 35% AI helps |
| Evaluate effects of treatment at various stages and adjust treatments to achieve maximum benefit. AI can track outcome data and suggest changes, clinician decides. | 35% AI helps |
| Discharge patient from physical therapy when goals or projected outcomes have been attained and provide for appropriate follow-up care or referrals. AI can draft discharge summaries and follow-up letters, clinician decides. | 35% AI helps |
Show the other 14 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Perform and document an initial exam, evaluating data to identify problems and determine a diagnosis prior to intervention. AI can synthesize history and records, but hands-on testing and diagnosis stay human. | 30% AI helps |
| Confer with the patient, medical practitioners, or appropriate others to plan, implement, or assess the intervention program. AI can draft care messages and summaries, conversations stay human. | 30% AI helps |
| Provide information to the patient about the proposed intervention, its material risks and expected benefits, and any reasonable alternatives. AI can draft risk and alternatives materials, but disclosure stays human. | 30% AI helps |
| Inform patients and refer to appropriate practitioners when diagnosis reveals findings outside physical therapy. AI can flag findings outside scope, but referral judgement stays clinical. | 30% AI helps |
| Direct, supervise, assess, and communicate with supportive personnel. Scheduling and reporting can be aided, but supervision is interpersonal work. | 25% AI helps |
| Participate in community or community agency activities or help to formulate public policy. AI can draft policy text, but community engagement is in person. | 25% AI helps |
| Instruct patient and family in treatment procedures to be continued at home. AI can make handouts, but in-person teaching and demonstration stay human. | 22% AI helps |
| Obtain patients' informed consent to proposed interventions. Consent requires live conversation and legal accountability with the patient. | 15% Needs a person |
| Test and measure patient's strength, motor development and function, sensory perception, functional capacity, or respiratory or circulatory efficiency and record data. Physical strength and motor testing requires in-person hands-on measurement. | 15% Needs a person |
| Direct group rehabilitation activities. Leading group rehab sessions requires live physical presence and supervision. | 8% Needs a person |
| Evaluate, fit, or adjust prosthetic or orthotic devices or recommend modification to orthotist. Fitting and adjusting prosthetics or orthotics requires in-person physical work. | 6% Needs a person |
| Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices. Building and repairing supportive devices is hands-on physical craftwork. | 5% Needs a person |
| Administer treatment involving application of physical agents, using equipment, moist packs, ultraviolet or infrared lamps, or ultrasound machines. Applying ultrasound, moist packs and physical agents needs hands-on equipment use. | 4% Needs a person |
| Administer manual exercises, massage, or traction to help relieve pain, increase patient strength, or decrease or prevent deformity or crippling. Manual therapy, massage and traction require direct physical hands-on work. | 3% Needs a person |
How physical therapists compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare practitioners and technical (89)
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.
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.
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