# Will physician assistants be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Physician assistants score 30 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 53%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 15% outright, and 32% stays with people. - **15%** AI can do it - **53%** AI helps - **32%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Lower than 63% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 12 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 6 and leaves 4 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination. AI scribes capture histories and notes from encounters well. | 72% AI can do it | | Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment. Routine procurement and ordering is well suited to software. | 65% AI can do it | | Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal. Flagging abnormal lab values is routine pattern work. | 58% AI helps | | Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance. Education content is AI friendly; emotional counseling needs human presence. | 40% AI helps | | Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients. Differential reasoning aided by AI; clinician is responsible for final decisions. | 35% AI helps | ## How physician assistants compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Physician assistants score 30**, 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 $135,880 a year, May 2025 People employed 162,150 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +21.1% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Take histories and examine patients hands on - Perform sutures, injections and wound care in person - Interpret abnormal lab values and imaging in Epic Systems - Supervise technicians and coordinate clinic staff daily - Counsel patients on therapy regimens and emotional concerns - Code visits accurately in medical procedure coding software ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Pediatric surgeons29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/pediatric-surgeons/) - [Orthopedic surgeons29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/orthopedic-surgeons/) - [Anesthesiologist assistants19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/anesthesiologist-assistants/) - [Anesthesiologists28 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/anesthesiologists/) - [Paramedics19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/paramedics/) ## Questions about physician assistants and AI Will AI replace physician assistants? Partly. About 3 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly compiling patient medical data into notes and ordering medical and laboratory supplies. Hands-on examination, procedures and supervising staff stay with physician assistants, and physicians keep sign-off on prescribing. Which physician assistant tasks is AI taking over? Recording patient data is the most exposed task, scoring 72 out of 100, because AI scribes capture histories, progress notes and exam results well. Ordering medical and laboratory supplies scores 65 and is routine procurement that software handles. Flagging abnormal lab values, scoring 58, is pattern work that AI does quickly. Which physician assistant tasks stay human? Surgical assistance scores 4 out of 100 in exposure, and performing procedures such as injections, sutures and wound care scores 5. Hands-on physical exams score 8. These need a person in the room with physical skill, and supervising technicians, scoring 15, is interpersonal work. How can physician assistants stay valuable as AI takes on documentation? Spend the time AI frees on hands-on exams, procedures and surgical assistance, which score lowest for exposure. Review and correct AI-drafted notes in Epic Systems or eClinicalWorks before signing. Build skill in counseling patients on therapy regimens and make differential diagnoses that physicians can rely on. ## Related jobs - [Family doctors42 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/family-doctors/) - [Nurse practitioners49 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/nurse-practitioners/) - [General internal medicine physicians44 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/general-internal-medicine-physicians/) - [Physiatrists35 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physiatrists/) ## Next steps for physician 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.