Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 62% 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 people and hands-on work, about 38% of the time, stays with people.
Operate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners. Monitor patient safety and comfort, and view images of area being scanned to ensure quality of pictures. May administer gadolinium contrast dosage intravenously. May interview patient, explain MRI procedures, and position patient on examining table. May enter into the computer data such as patient history, anatomical area to be scanned, orientation specified, and position of entry.
43,390 people do this job in the US. $95,480 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on25 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people15 h
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 25 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 15 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners (about 8 h); Conduct screening interviews of patients to identify contraindications, such as ferrous objects, pregnancy, prosthetic heart valves, cardiac pacemakers, or tattoos (about 3 h); Select appropriate imaging techniques or coils to produce required images (about 2 h).
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.
- 62%
- 5%
- 33%
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.
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, 19%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 61%. Today's estimate: 62%.
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 24 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.029% to 0.018% (released February and March 2025); 0.0098% to 0.0074% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.029% | 371 of 708 | 3 of 24 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.018% | 436 of 703 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0098% | 456 of 655 | 3 of 24 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0052% | 571 of 672 | 2 of 24 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0074% | 533 of 677 | 2 of 24 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 24 |
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 61% of this job's working time as physical work. For 4% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 4% in a purpose-built cell. 0.04 of 3, the 600th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 39%
- No robot shown 57%
- In a purpose-built cell 4%
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 . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 21% | 29 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Conduct screening interviews of patients to identify contraindications, such as ferrous objects, pregnancy, prosthetic heart valves, cardiac pacemakers, or tattoos.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Calibrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) console or peripheral hardware.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Select appropriate imaging techniques or coils to produce required images.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Instruct medical staff or students in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures or equipment operation.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Position patients on cradle, attaching immobilization devices, if needed, to ensure appropriate placement for imaging.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Take brief medical histories from patients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Write reports or notes to summarize testing procedures or outcomes for physicians or other medical professionals.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Operate optical systems to capture dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, such as functional brain imaging, real-time organ motion tracking, or musculoskeletal anatomy and trajectory visualization.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Troubleshoot technical issues related to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner or peripheral equipment, such as monitors or coils.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Explain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures to patients, patient representatives, or family members.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Inspect images for quality, using magnetic resonance scanner equipment and laser camera.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 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.
- Radiologic Technologists and Technicians27% now, 29% by 2028
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians31% now, 31% by 2028
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographers32% now, 32% by 2028
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists29% now, 29% by 2028
- Neurodiagnostic Technologists40% now, 40% by 2028
- Radiation Therapists29% now, 29% by 2028
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 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 62% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 62% 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 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists 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: Operate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners (100% of the task's time now); Conduct screening interviews of patients to identify contraindications, such as ferrous objects, pregnancy, prosthetic heart valves, cardiac pacemakers, or tattoos (100% of the task's time now); and Select appropriate imaging techniques or coils to produce required images (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Calibrate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) console or peripheral hardware; Instruct medical staff or students in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures or equipment operation; and Position patients on cradle, attaching immobilization devices, if needed, to ensure appropriate placement for imaging. Together such tasks are about 38% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists?
- 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 4%. 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 Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 61% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 4% of the working time. Its index is 0.04 of 3. One example: Axilum Robotics TMS-Robot / TMS-Cobot for "place and secure small, portable magnetic resonance imaging (mri) scanners on body part to be imaged, such as arm, leg, or head". 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 24 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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