Will veterinary technicians be replaced by AI?
Updated
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 |
| Provide information or counseling regarding issues such as animal health care, behavior problems, or nutrition. AI answers routine care questions; staff handle nuanced counseling. | 45% AI helps |
| Fill prescriptions, measuring medications and labeling containers. AI checks doses and prints labels; physical dispensing stays manual. | 35% AI helps |
| Perform laboratory tests on blood, urine, or feces, such as urinalyses or blood counts, to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of animal health problems. Analyzers automate counts, but sample handling and smears stay manual. | 30% AI helps |
| Discuss medical health of pets with clients, such as post-operative status. Live client discussions need empathy and judgement; AI drafts summaries. | 18% Needs a person |
| Supervise or train veterinary students or other staff members. Teaching students needs live judgement; AI can draft training materials. | 18% Needs a person |
Show the other 21 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Care for and monitor the condition of animals recovering from surgery. Recovery care needs bedside checks; AI only helps charting. | 15% Needs a person |
| Observe the behavior and condition of animals and monitor their clinical symptoms. Watching animals for symptoms is mostly physical; AI helps with notes. | 12% Needs a person |
| Collect, prepare, and label samples for laboratory testing, culture, or microscopic examination. Collecting samples from animals is physical; labels can be automated. | 12% Needs a person |
| Administer anesthesia to animals, under the direction of a veterinarian, and monitor animals' responses to anesthetics so that dosages can be adjusted. Live anesthesia monitoring needs a person physically present. | 10% Needs a person |
| Prepare and administer medications, vaccines, serums, or treatments, as prescribed by veterinarians. Injections and vaccine administration require physical handling of animals. | 10% Needs a person |
| Clean and sterilize instruments, equipment, or materials. Physical cleaning and sterilizing; AI only helps with record keeping. | 10% Needs a person |
| Provide veterinarians with the correct equipment or instruments, as needed. Handing correct instruments during surgery is physical and immediate. | 10% Needs a person |
| Maintain instruments, equipment, or machinery to ensure proper working condition. Physical equipment repair; AI only helps with maintenance scheduling. | 10% Needs a person |
| Take and develop diagnostic radiographs, using x-ray equipment. Positioning animals for radiographs is physical; AI helps little. | 8% Needs a person |
| Take animals into treatment areas and assist with physical examinations by performing such duties as obtaining temperature, pulse, or respiration data. Handling animals to take vitals is physical work. | 5% Needs a person |
| Prepare animals for surgery, performing such tasks as shaving surgical areas. Shaving and prepping surgical sites is physical work on animals. | 4% Needs a person |
| Prepare treatment rooms for surgery. Setting up surgical rooms is physical, with little AI benefit. | 4% Needs a person |
| Administer emergency first aid, such as performing emergency resuscitation or other life saving procedures. Emergency resuscitation requires immediate physical action and skill. | 3% Needs a person |
| Perform dental work, such as cleaning, polishing, or extracting teeth. Dental cleaning and extractions are physical procedures requiring skill. | 3% Needs a person |
| Give enemas and perform catheterizations, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, or gavages. Enemas, catheters, and feeding tubes require direct physical procedures. | 3% Needs a person |
| Clean kennels, animal holding areas, surgery suites, examination rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease. Cleaning kennels and surgery suites is physical work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Dress and suture wounds and apply splints or other protective devices. Suturing and splinting are direct, skilled procedures on live animals. | 3% Needs a person |
| Provide assistance with animal euthanasia and the disposal of remains. Euthanasia assistance and remains disposal are physical, sensitive tasks. | 3% Needs a person |
| Restrain animals during exams or procedures. Restraint is entirely physical work with animals present. | 2% Needs a person |
| Bathe animals, clip nails or claws, and brush or cut animals' hair. Bathing, nail clipping, and grooming need physical handling of animals. | 2% Needs a person |
| Conduct specialized procedures, such as animal branding or tattooing or hoof trimming. Branding, tattooing, and hoof trimming are physical procedures on animals. | 2% Needs a person |
How veterinary technicians compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare practitioners and technical (89)
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.
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.
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