Acupuncturists
Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.
7,830 people do this job in the US. $76,040 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 51%
- 0%
- 49%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 51%. Today's estimate: 51%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 14% | 38 min25 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 12% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 21 min13 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 8% | 29 min17 min to 42 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min13 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 50 min | 98%Half by now | |
| Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min8 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).