All occupations › Healthcare supportCan AI Replace Occupational Therapy Aides in 2026? Lower exposure. AI could handle about 23% of today's occupational therapy aides tasks by 2036, and there is a 3% chance the number of jobs falls by a fifth or more. AI mostly assists people in this role.
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Timeline Year 2030 Headcount (2025 = 100)
104
Chance of 20%+ fewer jobs
5% 2030 · 3% 2036
One person could cover, 2036
1.2 roles
0% 50% 100% 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 12% 2027: 13% 2028: 14% 2029: 15% 2030: 16% 2031: 18% 2032: 20% 2033: 21% 2034: 22% 2035: 23% 2036: 23% 16% Share of today's tasks AI can perform 40 80 120 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 101 2027: 102 2028: 103 2029: 103 2030: 104 2031: 105 2032: 105 2033: 106 2034: 107 2035: 107 2036: 108 104 Headcount index, 2025 = 100 (dashed line) Your survival map Not every part of your job is at the same risk. Tap a number to see what to do about each task.
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1 Encourage patients and attend to their physical needs to facilitate the attainment of therapeutic goals. 2 Prepare and maintain work area, materials, and equipment and maintain inventory of treatment and educational supplies. 3 Transport patients to and from the occupational therapy work area. 4 Assist educational specialists or clinical psychologists in administering situational or diagnostic tests to measure client's abilities or progress. 5 Perform clerical, administrative, and secretarial duties, such as answering phones, restocking and ordering supplies, filling out paperwork, and scheduling appointments. 6 Report to supervisors or therapists, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, attendance, and accomplishments. 7 Observe patients' attendance, progress, attitudes, and accomplishments and record and maintain information in client records. Based on 15 O*NET tasks for "Occupational Therapy Aides" (SOC 31-2012.00). LLM alone: 22% of tasks; with AI tools: 26%. Projections are a model, not official statistics. How we calculate this · Data version 2026-10
