Medical Transcriptionists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 85% 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 15% of the time, stays with people.
Transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices, covering office visits, emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries. Transcribe dictated reports and translate abbreviations into fully understandable form. Edit as necessary and return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction.
41,550 people do this job in the US. $40,410 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on34 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people6 h
Medical Transcriptionists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 34 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 6 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material (about 9 h); Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries (about 5 h); Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes (about 4 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.
- 85%
- 0%
- 15%
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, 13%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 82%. Today's estimate: 85%.
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 15 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.11% to 0.083% (released February and March 2025); 0.075% to 0.074% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.11% | 158 of 708 | 6 of 15 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.083% | 182 of 703 | 7 of 15 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.075% | 181 of 655 | 5 of 15 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.077% | 188 of 672 | 6 of 15 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.074% | 204 of 677 | 6 of 15 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 15 |
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 3% 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 620th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 97%
- 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 . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 23% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 13% | 21 min8 min to 1.1 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Perform a variety of clerical and office tasks, such as handling incoming and outgoing mail, completing and submitting insurance claims, typing, filing, or operating office machines.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, OPEX mail and document automation systems (Falcon+/AS series) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 9% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Perform data entry and data retrieval services, providing data for inclusion in medical records and for transmission to physicians.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Take dictation using shorthand, a stenotype machine, or headsets and transcribing machines.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min3 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Receive patients, schedule appointments, and maintain patient records.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Decide which information should be included or excluded in reports.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 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.
- Medical Records Specialists94% now, 94% by 2028
- Word Processors and Typists77% now, 77% by 2028
- Medical Assistants29% now, 29% by 2028
- Emergency Medical Technicians2% now, 2% by 2028
- Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants84% now, 84% by 2028
- Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars35% now, 91% 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 Medical Transcriptionists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 85% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 85% 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 Medical Transcriptionists 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: Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material (100% of the task's time now); Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries (100% of the task's time now); and Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Medical Transcriptionists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Perform a variety of clerical and office tasks, such as handling incoming and outgoing mail, completing and submitting insurance claims, typing, filing, or operating office machines; Receive patients, schedule appointments, and maintain patient records; and Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors. Together such tasks are about 15% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Medical Transcriptionists?
- 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 64%. 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 Medical Transcriptionists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 3% 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: OPEX mail and document automation systems (Falcon+/AS series) for "perform a variety of clerical and office tasks, such as handling incoming and outgoing mail, completing and submitting insurance claims, typing, filing, or operating office machines". 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 15 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.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.