Will AI replace Occupational Therapists?
Most of the work in Occupational Therapists still leans on things AI struggles with — research rates its theoretical AI reach at only ~30%, and real-world use lower still.
O*NET-SOC 29-1122
How your 35 core tasks split
Top = what GPT-4 judged AI could speed up. Bottom = how much AI was actually used for these tasks (Anthropic's March 2026 report, usage from Aug & Nov 2025). The gap is the real story.
Back in 2023, GPT-4 judged AI could, in theory, assist with a relatively low share of this job's tasks (~30%). By late 2025, real-world AI use had reached about 1% of its task activity (still rare). The gap between that 2023 forecast and today is the real story.
Where this job sits among 738 jobs
Each dot is one of 738 U.S. jobs. Right = AI can do more of it. Up = AI is actually used more.
The signals here line up
Theoretical reach (~30%), real-world use (~1%) and the task-level picture mostly agree — so this read is more reliable than for jobs where the signals contradict each other. Even so, AI-risk estimates shift by model (a 2026 study saw the "high-risk" share swing 2.7%–51.5%), so treat these as directional, not destiny.
See all 35 tasks, ratedBased on real task-level AI scores — click to collapse
- Complete and maintain necessary records.
- Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.
- Write reports or complete forms to document assessments, training, progress, or follow-up outcomes.
- Participate in professional development activities, such as reading literature, continuing education, attending conferences, and collaborating with colleagues.
- Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.
- Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.
- Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.
- Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.
- Conduct research in occupational therapy.
- Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.
- Recommend appropriate mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, long canes, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Develop rehabilitation or instructional plans collaboratively with clients, based on results of assessments, needs, and goals.
- Provide consultation, support, or education to groups such as parents and teachers.
- Identify visual impairments related to basic life skills in areas such as self care, literacy, communication, health management, home management, and meal preparation.
- Design instructional programs to improve communication, using devices such as slates and styluses, braillers, keyboards, adaptive handwriting devices, talking book machines, digital books, and optical character readers (OCRs).
- Refer clients to services, such as eye care, health care, rehabilitation, and counseling, to enhance visual and life functioning or when condition exceeds scope of practice.
- Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate those impaired because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.
- Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.
- Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.
- Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.
- Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.
- Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.
- Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.
- Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.
- Teach cane skills, including cane use with a guide, diagonal techniques, and two-point touches.
- Train clients with visual impairments to use mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Train clients to use tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and proprioceptive information.
- Assess clients' functioning in areas such as vision, orientation and mobility skills, social and emotional issues, cognition, physical abilities, and personal goals.
- Teach clients to travel independently, using a variety of actual or simulated travel situations or exercises.
- Teach self-advocacy skills to clients.
- Teach independent living skills or techniques, such as adaptive eating, medication management, diabetes management, and personal management.
- Monitor clients' progress to determine whether changes in rehabilitation plans are needed.
- Train clients to use adaptive equipment, such as large print, reading stands, lamps, writing implements, software, and electronic devices.
- Obtain, distribute, or maintain low vision devices.
- Collaborate with specialists, such as rehabilitation counselors, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists, to provide client solutions.
How we measured this — and how fresh it is
AI's theoretical reach data: 2023
From GPTs-are-GPTs (Eloundou et al.), where GPT-4 rated how much of each task an AI tool could meaningfully speed up. This is the most recent open, commercially-usable occupation-level potential dataset — it dates to 2023. Newer multi-model re-runs exist but swing wildly (one 2026 study saw "high-risk" jobs range 2.7%–51.5% by model) and aren't openly licensed, so we show the stable 2023 baseline and pair it with newer real-world data.
Real-world AI use 2026 report
From the Anthropic Economic Index, which observes how real Claude conversations map onto each occupation's tasks. Published in Anthropic's March 2026 labor-market report, based on usage measured in Aug & Nov 2025 (Sonnet 4 / 4.5).
Task list & ratings O*NET 30.3
Tasks come from O*NET 30.3. Each task's "AI can do / speeds up / still on you" tier uses the real task-level exposure scores from GPTs-are-GPTs (E1 / E2 / E0) — not a guess from keywords.
Sources: O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0) · GPTs-are-GPTs (MIT, 2023) · Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY, Aug & Nov 2025). Page compiled June 2026. "O*NET" is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor.
This page is for general informational purposes only and is not career, financial, or employment advice. AI exposure reflects research estimates of task overlap, not predictions about any individual's job, employer, or future employment.