All occupations › Healthcare supportCan AI Replace Occupational Therapy Assistants in 2026? Lower exposure. AI could handle about 30% of today's occupational therapy assistants tasks by 2036, and there is a 4% chance the number of jobs falls by a fifth or more. AI mostly assists people in this role.
See how not to be replaced
Timeline Year 2030 Headcount (2025 = 100)
103
Chance of 20%+ fewer jobs
5% 2030 · 4% 2036
One person could cover, 2036
1.2 roles
0% 50% 100% 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 12% 2027: 13% 2028: 15% 2029: 16% 2030: 19% 2031: 21% 2032: 24% 2033: 26% 2034: 28% 2035: 29% 2036: 30% 19% Share of today's tasks AI can perform 40 80 120 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2026: 101 2027: 102 2028: 102 2029: 103 2030: 103 2031: 104 2032: 104 2033: 104 2034: 105 2035: 106 2036: 106 103 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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Tap a number on the map or a task below.
1 Instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment. 2 Maintain and promote a positive attitude toward clients and their treatment programs. 3 Implement, or assist occupational therapists with implementing, treatment plans designed to help clients function independently. 4 Select therapy activities to fit patients' needs and capabilities. 5 Attend care plan meetings to review patient progress and update care plans. 6 Order any needed educational or treatment supplies. 7 Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling appointments, collecting data, or documenting health insurance billings. 8 Report to supervisors, verbally or in writing, on patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior. 9 Observe and record patients' progress, attitudes, and behavior and maintain this information in client records. 10 Attend continuing education classes. Your plan Ticks are saved in this browser only.
Try an AI tool on one task you'd normally do by hand: "Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling appointments, collecting data, or documenting health insurance billings". Learn one AI tool well enough to show it in an interview, for: "Select therapy activities to fit patients' needs and capabilities". Get visibly better at your human core: "Instruct, or assist in instructing, patients and families in home programs, basic living skills, or the care and use of adaptive equipment". Rewrite the top of your CV around judgment, people and decisions, not routine output. Based on 22 O*NET tasks for "Occupational Therapy Assistants" (SOC 31-2011.00). LLM alone: 19% of tasks; with AI tools: 35%. Projections are a model, not official statistics. How we calculate this · Data version 2026-10
