# Will AI replace veterinarians? Updated October 2026 Veterinarians score 33 of 100 for AI exposure. 57% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 5% today and speed up another 38%. - **5%** AI can do it - **38%** AI helps - **57%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Lower than 57% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 21 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 9 and leaves 11 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records. Scheduling, billing and records are routine digital work. | 72% AI can do it | | Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans. Drafting zoonotic disease handouts is easy; live talks stay human. | 60% AI helps | | Research diseases to which animals could be susceptible. Literature review and analysis suit AI; lab work requires people. | 55% AI helps | | Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options. AI drafts care guidance; vets must judge each case's treatment. | 50% AI helps | | Establish or conduct quarantine or testing procedures that prevent the spread of diseases to other animals or to humans and that comply with applicable government regulations. AI can draft protocols; on site compliance checks stay human. | 45% AI helps | ## How veterinarians compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Veterinarians score 33**, 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 $130,100 a year, May 2025 People employed 83,900 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +9.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Run hands-on surgery and wound care in clinic - Collect blood, urine and tissue samples for lab analysis - Check AI-drafted records in PAWS Veterinary Practice Management - Write quarantine and testing protocols to USDA rules - Hold a current state veterinary license and DEA registration - Lead clinic operations in Complete Clinic ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Veterinary technicians22 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/veterinary-technicians/) - [Veterinary assistants27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/veterinary-assistants/) - [Pediatric surgeons29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/pediatric-surgeons/) - [Anesthesiologists28 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/anesthesiologists/) - [Oral surgeons14 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/oral-surgeons/) ## Questions about veterinarians and AI Will veterinarians be replaced by AI? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours for veterinarians go to tasks AI can already do, mostly scheduling, billing and records. Surgery, injections, euthanasia and sample collection stay with vets because they need hands on a live animal and a licensed person accountable for the outcome. Which veterinarian tasks is AI taking over? Scheduling appointments, accepting payments and keeping business records score 72 on exposure, the highest in the job, so AI can handle much of that paperwork. Drafting zoonotic disease handouts scores 60 and literature review for disease research scores 55, since both are text and reading work that AI does well. Which veterinarian tasks stay human? Euthanasia scores 2 on exposure and inoculation scores 4, the lowest in the job, because each is a physical procedure on a live animal that a vet carries out and answers for. Surgery and wound care score 10, and counseling clients about pet deaths scores 9, since those need hands in the room and the empathy a person brings. How can veterinarians stay valuable as AI spreads? Keep the hands-on work, meaning surgery, sample collection and euthanasia, at the center of each week. Use PAWS Veterinary Practice Management or Complete Clinic to hand off scheduling and billing, then check any AI-drafted client handouts or quarantine protocols against state and USDA rules before they go out. Keep the state veterinary license and any DEA registration current. ## Related jobs - [Allergists41 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/allergists/) - [Pathologists41 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/pathologists/) - [General internal medicine physicians44 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/general-internal-medicine-physicians/) - [Urologists34 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/urologists/) ## Next steps for veterinarians - ### 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.