Occupational Therapists
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 44% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 56% of the time, stays with people.
Assess, plan, and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational, homemaking, and daily living skills, as well as general independence, to persons with disabilities or developmental delays. Use therapeutic techniques, adapt the individual's environment, teach skills, and modify specific tasks that present barriers to the individual.
162,450 people do this job in the US. $100,330 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work16 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet2 h
- Stays with people22 h
Occupational Therapists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 16 hours become checking its work, 2 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 22 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Plan and run skills programs (about 2 h, a person checks); Keep patient records (about 2 h, a person checks); Select activities for skills (about 2 h, a person checks).
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.
- 40%
- 5%
- 1%
- 42%
- 13%
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 39% 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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 31%. 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, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 17 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.016% to 0.0049% (released February and March 2025); 0.0082% to 0.0062% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.016% | 472 of 708 | 3 of 17 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0049% | 586 of 703 | 2 of 17 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0082% | 475 of 655 | 3 of 17 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.011% | 469 of 672 | 4 of 17 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0062% | 553 of 677 | 2 of 17 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
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 48% of this job's working time as physical work. For 7% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 3% in a purpose-built cell, 4% in a structured facility. 0.10 of 3, the 515th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 52%
- No robot shown 42%
- In a purpose-built cell 3%
- In a structured facility 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.
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
55% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Plan and run skills programs, the in-person work, 8%
- Run occupational therapy programs, the in-person work, 7%
- Test abilities and set rehabilitation goals, the hands-on work, 6%
- Run health promotion groups, the in-person work, 5%
- Make or requisition adaptive equipment, the hands-on work, 4%
- Train caregivers, the in-person work, 4%
What becomes checking the machine
44% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it.
- Conduct research, costly if wrong, 8%
- Plan and run skills programs, a licensed person signs, 5%
- Keep patient records, severe if wrong, 5%
- Select activities for skills, a licensed person signs, 4%
- Test abilities and set rehabilitation goals, a licensed person signs, 4%
- Evaluate progress and write reports, a licensed person signs, 4%
What to learn
- 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.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check or sign: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- The conversations. About 43% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 40% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
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 . 17 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.Programs planned on paper and run with patients.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 13% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | In person 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate persons with disabilities because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.Therapy conducted with patients in person, with the planning behind it.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | In person 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Conduct research in occupational therapy.Reading, analysis and writing, with some data gathered from patients.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 10% | 2.1 work days6.7 h to 4.2 work days | Documents 80%, in person 20% | 28%Desk part half by Jan 2027 |
| Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.Testing the patient hands-on and analyzing the medical data for goals.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Hands-on 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.Group activities in person, with the planning.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | In person 60%, documents 40% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.Choosing activities to the patient's limits, worked out on paper and tried in session.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 7% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | Documents 60%, in person 40% | 60%Desk part half by now |
| Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.Fabricating splints and braces by hand, with the design and orders.Done more than monthly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Moxi (Diligent Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Hands-on 60%, documents 40% | 39%Desk part half by now |
| Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.Watching the patient's progress and writing it up.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Documents 60%, in person 40% | 60%Desk part half by now |
| Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.Assessing the home or workplace and writing the recommendations.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Documents 60%, in person 40% | 60%Desk part half by now |
| Complete and maintain necessary records.Entries in the patient record.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Train caregivers in providing for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.Showing caregivers in person what the patient needs.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.Working with the client on computer programs in session.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | In person 100% | Stays 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. 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.
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 Occupational Therapists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 39% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 44% 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 Occupational Therapists 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: Plan and run skills programs (40% of the task's time now); Keep patient records (100% of the task's time now); and Select activities for skills (60% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Occupational Therapists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Train caregivers; Train cognitive skills with programs; and Lay out and clean therapy materials. Together such tasks are about 12% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Occupational Therapists learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are signing off under your license; reviewing work you did not do yourself; and the conversations. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 55% of the working time stays with people, 44% becomes checking a model's work and 0% 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 Occupational Therapists?
- 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 1%. 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 Occupational Therapists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 48% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 7% of the working time, 4% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.10 of 3. One example: Figure 02/03 humanoid with Helix 02 for "lay out and clean therapy materials". 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 17 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 September 30, 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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