# Will respiratory therapists be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Respiratory therapists score 24 of 100 for AI exposure. 59% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 5% today and speed up another 36%. - **5%** AI can do it - **36%** AI helps - **59%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 73% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 22 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 8 and leaves 13 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information. Charting from structured data is routine documentation AI handles well. | 78% AI can do it | | Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders. AI drafts protocol options; clinician verifies against physician orders. | 50% AI helps | | Monitor cardiac patients, using electrocardiography devices, such as a holter monitor. AI reads continuous ECG trends; electrode placement stays manual. | 50% AI helps | | Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition. AI summarizes orders and history; gas sampling stays manual. | 45% AI helps | | Educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment. AI drafts education materials; teaching hands on devices stays human. | 45% AI helps | ## How respiratory therapists compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Respiratory therapists score 24**, 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 $82,280 a year, May 2025 People employed 139,790 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +8.5% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Draw and interpret arterial blood gas samples at the bedside - Perform endotracheal intubation and emergency airway support - Verify AI-drafted charts in MEDITECH and eClinicalWorks - Teach inhaler and ventilator use hands on to families - Hold the NBRC Registered Respiratory Therapist credential - Track gas and vitals trends in Microsoft Excel ## Safer roles nearby 4 related occupations with lower scores. - [Paramedics19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/paramedics/) - [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/) - [Anesthesiologist assistants19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/anesthesiologist-assistants/) ## Questions about respiratory therapists and AI Will AI replace respiratory therapists? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly maintaining patient charts and drafting treatment requirements. Bedside care, airway procedures and resuscitation stay with respiratory therapists because they need a person in the room. Which tasks is AI taking over for respiratory therapists? Charting is the most exposed task, scored 78 out of 100, because AI can build patient identification and therapy entries from structured data. Drafting treatment requirements, scored 50, is also shifting, since AI proposes protocol options that the therapist checks against physician orders. Which respiratory therapist tasks stay human? Endotracheal intubation scores 2 for exposure and stays with clinicians because it is a hands on airway procedure. Bronchopulmonary drainage, scored 4, and emergency resuscitation, scored 5, need physical presence and immediate action at the patient's side. How can respiratory therapists stay valuable as AI spreads? Keep airway and bedside skills current, since intubation and resuscitation stay human. Check AI-drafted entries in MEDITECH and eClinicalWorks before signing them. Use Microsoft Excel to track gas and vitals trends, and lead device teaching sessions with families. ## Related jobs - [Cardiovascular technologists27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cardiovascular-technologists/) - [Physical therapists38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/physical-therapists/) - [Occupational therapy assistants27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/occupational-therapy-assistants/) - [Nurses36 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/nurses/) ## Next steps for respiratory 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.