Endoscopy Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 5% 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 the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 95% of the time, stays with people.
Maintain a sterile field to provide support for physicians and nurses during endoscopy procedures. Prepare and maintain instruments and equipment. May obtain specimens.
$48,430 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
Reviewed on October 18, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on2 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people38 h
Endoscopy Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 2 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 38 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Keep up with endoscopy developments (about 1 h); Keep supply inventories (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.
- 3%
- 2%
- 0%
- 6%
- 89%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
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.
What handing it over would take, now
The 5% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
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, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 3%. Today's estimate: 5%.
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, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 12 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.002% to none (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.002% | 627 of 655 | 1 of 12 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 12 |
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 96% of this job's working time as physical work. For 46% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 46% in a purpose-built cell. 0.46 of 3, the 325th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 4%
- No robot shown 50%
- In a purpose-built cell 46%
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.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
95% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Assist in endoscopic procedures, the hands-on work, 28%
- Reprocess and calibrate scopes, the hands-on work, 20%
- Prepare procedure rooms, the hands-on work, 10%
- Maintain endoscopic equipment, the hands-on work, 10%
- Check equipment safety, the hands-on work, 6%
- Position and transport patients, the hands-on work, 6%
What becomes checking the machine
No desk work within reach by then in tasks where a mistake costs something. Another 5% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
What to learn
- The hands-on craft. About 89% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Signing off under your license. Some tasks need a licensed, certified or sworn person to do or sign them. The license, and the judgment it stands for, stays with the person.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 12 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assist physicians or registered nurses in the conduct of endoscopic procedures.Hands in the procedure under the physician and nurse.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 28% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Clean, disinfect, or calibrate scopes or other endoscopic instruments according to manufacturer recommendations and facility standards.Cleaning, disinfecting and calibrating the scopes to the maker's and facility's standards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, MEDIVATORS ADVANTAGE PLUS Automated Endoscope Reprocessor (STERIS) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 20% | 38 min21 min to 1.1 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare suites or rooms according to endoscopic procedure requirements.Setting up the suite with the scopes and supplies the procedure needs.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 21 min13 min to 33 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Maintain or repair endoscopic equipment.Servicing and repairing the equipment by hand.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Perform safety checks to verify proper equipment functioning.Checking each piece of equipment works before it is used on a patient.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ScopeControl (Dovideq Medical) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in endoscopy.Reading, conferences and talk with colleagues; the knowing is the technician's own.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 49%Desk part half by now |
| Position or transport patients in accordance with instructions from medical personnel.Moving and positioning patients as the nurses and physicians direct.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RotoProne Therapy System (Arjo) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min8 min to 25 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Maintain inventories of endoscopic equipment and supplies.Counting the equipment and supplies and recording the counts.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, ORB (Operating Room Bot) (Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 33 min17 min to 50 min | Hands-on 60%, systems 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Collect specimens from patients, using standard medical procedures.Taking the specimens handed off during the procedure and labeling them for the patient.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Place devices, such as blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeter sensors, nasal cannulas, surgical cautery pads, and cardiac monitoring electrodes, on patients to monitor vital signs.Fitting the cuff, sensors and electrodes to the patient, with a word as it goes.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 13 min | Hands-on 80%, in person 20% | Stays with people |
| Attend in-service training to validate or refresh basic professional skills.Attendance and practice only the technician can do.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Conduct in-service training sessions to disseminate information regarding equipment or instruments.Teaching colleagues about the equipment in a room, with the material prepared.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 1.0% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | In person 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part 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. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% 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.
- Surgical Technologists2% now, 2% by 2028
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians31% now, 31% by 2028
- Surgical Assistants0% now, 0% by 2028
- Radiologic Technologists and Technicians27% now, 29% by 2028
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographers32% now, 32% by 2028
- Ophthalmic Medical Technologists22% now, 22% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Endoscopy Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 5% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 5% 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 Endoscopy Technicians 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: Keep up with endoscopy developments (49% of the task's time now); Keep supply inventories (40% of the task's time now); and Give in-service training (30% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Endoscopy Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Assist in endoscopic procedures; Reprocess and calibrate scopes; and Prepare procedure rooms. Together such tasks are about 89% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Endoscopy Technicians learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the hands-on craft; judgment where errors are severe; and signing off under your license. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 95% of the working time stays with people, 0% becomes checking a model's work and 5% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Endoscopy Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. 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 Endoscopy Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 96% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 46% of the working time. Its index is 0.46 of 3. One example: MEDIVATORS ADVANTAGE PLUS Automated Endoscope Reprocessor for "reprocess and calibrate scopes". 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 12 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on October 18, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), 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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