# Will veterinary technicians be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Veterinary technicians score 22 of 100 for AI exposure. 74% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 16% today and speed up another 10%. - **16%** AI can do it - **10%** AI helps - **74%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 76% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 31 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 5 of them today, speeds up 3 and leaves 23 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Schedule appointments and procedures for animals. Scheduling is digital work that AI booking tools handle well. | 80% AI can do it | | Maintain laboratory, research, or treatment records, as well as inventories of pharmaceuticals, equipment, or supplies. AI can largely maintain digital lab and inventory records. | 75% AI can do it | | Monitor medical supplies and place orders when inventory is low. Inventory software can flag low stock and draft purchase orders. | 75% AI can do it | | Perform a variety of office, clerical, or accounting duties, such as reception, billing, bookkeeping, or selling products. Billing, bookkeeping, and reception are largely digital and automatable. | 70% AI can do it | | Maintain controlled drug inventory and related log books. AI reconciles controlled drug logs; staff still verify physical counts. | 62% AI can do it | ## How veterinary technicians compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Veterinary technicians score 22**, 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 $47,380 a year, May 2025 People employed 129,140 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +9.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Restrain animals safely during exams and procedures - Give emergency first aid and resuscitation in clinic - Verify physical controlled drug counts against logbooks - Assist veterinarians during surgery with sterile instruments - Pass the Veterinary Technician National Examination VTNE - Run urinalysis and complete blood counts in the lab ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Surgical assistants11 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/surgical-assistants/) - [Surgical technologists15 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/surgical-technologists/) - [Emergency medical technicians17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/emergency-medical-technicians/) - [Phlebotomists21 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/phlebotomists/) - [Paramedics19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/paramedics/) ## Questions about veterinary technicians and AI Will AI replace veterinary technicians? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly appointment scheduling and inventory records. Restraint, first aid, surgery support and hands-on lab work stay with people because they need a trained person physically present with the animal. Which veterinary technician tasks is AI taking over? Scheduling appointments and procedures carries an exposure score of 80, the highest in this job, because booking tools handle calendar work well. Maintaining controlled drug logs also ranks high at 62, since AI can reconcile log entries while staff still verify physical counts. Which veterinary technician tasks stay human? Restraining animals, giving emergency first aid, and dental work each score 2 or 3 on exposure, the lowest in this job. Each needs hands on a living animal, so physical handling, timing, and skill stay with the technician in the room. How can veterinary technicians stay valuable? Use Practice management software PMS to handle appointment exceptions such as emergency slots and multi-pet surgeries, where judgment matters. Then train in surgical support and sterile instrument prep, earn the VTNE credential, and check Microsoft Excel inventory logs so you catch errors in automated ordering. ## Related jobs - [Veterinary assistants27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/veterinary-assistants/) - [Medical assistants32 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/medical-assistants/) - [Cardiovascular technologists27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cardiovascular-technologists/) - [Radiologic technologists29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/radiologic-technologists/) ## Next steps for veterinary technicians - ### 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.