Cardiologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 39% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 65% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 35% of the time, stays with people.
Diagnose, treat, manage, and prevent diseases or conditions of the cardiovascular system. May further subspecialize in interventional procedures (e.g., balloon angioplasty and stent placement), echocardiography, or electrophysiology.
17,290 people do this job in the US. $496,010 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on16 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet10 h
- Stays with people14 h
Cardiologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 16 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 10 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 14 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Conduct research to develop or test medications, treatments, or procedures that prevent or control disease or injury (about 10 h); Design and explain treatment plans, based on patient information such as medical history, reports, and examination results (under an hour); Diagnose medical conditions of patients, using records, reports, test results, or examination information (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 65%
- 5%
- 30%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 39%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.89% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 30th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 3 of its 25 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0046% to 0.0041% (released February and March 2025); 0.001% to 0.0081% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.84% to 0.89% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0046% | 618 of 708 | 1 of 25 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0041% | 600 of 703 | 1 of 25 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.001% | 652 of 655 | 1 of 25 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.011% | 459 of 672 | 1 of 25 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0081% | 522 of 677 | 1 of 25 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.84% | 30 of 434 | 3 of 25 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.89% | 30 of 447 | 3 of 25 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 25% of this job's working time as physical work. For 3% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 3% in a purpose-built cell. 0.03 of 3, the 619th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 75%
- No robot shown 22%
- In a purpose-built cell 3%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 25 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conduct research to develop or test medications, treatments, or procedures that prevent or control disease or injury.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 51% | 1.7 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | 49%Half by now | |
| Diagnose cardiovascular conditions, using cardiac catheterization.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as implanting pacemakers and defibrillators.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform vascular procedures, such as balloon angioplasty and stents.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Administer emergency cardiac care for life-threatening heart problems, such as cardiac arrest and heart attack.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Supervise or train cardiology technologists or students. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct exercise electrocardiogram tests to monitor cardiovascular activity under stress. | 2% | 38 min25 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Design and explain treatment plans, based on patient information such as medical history, reports, and examination results. | 2% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Diagnose medical conditions of patients, using records, reports, test results, or examination information. AI observed on this task. | 2% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Advise patients and community members concerning diet, activity, hygiene, or disease prevention. | 2% | 25 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Conduct electrocardiogram (EKG), phonocardiogram, echocardiogram, or other cardiovascular tests to record patients' cardiac activity, using specialized electronic test equipment, recording devices, or laboratory instruments.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 25 min17 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Monitor patients' conditions and progress, and reevaluate treatments, as necessary. | 2% | 25 min13 min to 38 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).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Cardiologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 39% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 65% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Cardiologists come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Conduct research to develop or test medications, treatments, or procedures that prevent or control disease or injury (49% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Design and explain treatment plans, based on patient information such as medical history, reports, and examination results (100% of the task's time now); and Diagnose medical conditions of patients, using records, reports, test results, or examination information (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Cardiologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Diagnose cardiovascular conditions, using cardiac catheterization; Perform minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as implanting pacemakers and defibrillators; and Perform vascular procedures, such as balloon angioplasty and stents. Together such tasks are about 35% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Cardiologists?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.89% went to this job's tasks, the 30th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 3 of its 25 tasks appeared. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Cardiologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 25% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 3% of the working time. Its index is 0.03 of 3. One example: Viasonix Falcon Xpress vascular diagnostic system for "observe ultrasound display screen, and listen to signals to record vascular information, such as blood pressure, limb volume changes, oxygen saturation, and cerebral circulation". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 25 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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