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Neurologists

Diagnose, manage, and treat disorders and diseases of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, with a primarily nonsurgical focus.

10,590 people do this job in the US. $248,560 a year.

now
43%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 49%
  • 11%
  • 40%
0%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 49% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 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, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 41%. Today's estimate: 44%.

0%25%50%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 2% within reacho3, April 2025: 13% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 17% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 24% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 24% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 27% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 28% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 41% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 44% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

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 . 24 tasks from .

TaskKind
Identify and treat major neurological system diseases and disorders, such as central nervous system infection, cranio spinal trauma, dementia, and stroke.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 12%1.3 h25 min to 3.3 hStays with people
Perform or interpret the outcomes of procedures or diagnostic tests, such as lumbar punctures, electroencephalography, electromyography, and nerve conduction velocity tests.Done daily by most who do it. 8%50 min17 min to 2.5 hStays with people
Develop treatment plans based on diagnoses and on evaluation of factors, such as age and general health, or procedural risks and costs.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 8%38 min17 min to 1.7 h98%Half by now
Provide training to medical students or staff members.Done daily by most who do it. 7%1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h87%Half by now
Examine patients to obtain information about functional status of areas, such as vision, physical strength, coordination, reflexes, sensations, language skills, cognitive abilities, and mental status.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 6%25 min13 min to 50 minStays with people
Inform patients or families of neurological diagnoses and prognoses, or benefits, risks and costs of various treatment plans.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 6%29 min13 min to 1.1 h100%Half by now
Interview patients to obtain information, such as complaints, symptoms, medical histories, and family histories.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task.6%25 min13 min to 50 minStays with people
Participate in neuroscience research activities.Done daily by most who do it. 5%3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h32%Half by Jan 2027
Diagnose neurological conditions based on interpretation of examination findings, histories, or test results.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%25 min13 min to 1.3 h100%Half by now
Prescribe or administer medications, such as anti-epileptic drugs, and monitor patients for behavioral and cognitive side effects.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%21 min8 min to 50 minStays with people
Counsel patients or others on the background of neurological disorders including risk factors, or genetic or environmental concerns.Done several times a day by most who do it. 4%25 min13 min to 50 minStays with people
Perform specialized treatments in areas such as sleep disorders, neuroimmunology, neuro-oncology, behavioral neurology, and neurogenetics.Done daily by most who do it.4%1.3 h25 min to 3.3 hStays with people

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).