Phlebotomists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 12% 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 88% of the time, stays with people.
Draw blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research. May explain the procedure to patients and assist in the recovery of patients with adverse reactions.
143,540 people do this job in the US. $45,230 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 work5 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people35 h
Phlebotomists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 5 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 35 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Document specimen chain of custody (about 2 h, a person checks); Enter patient and specimen information (about 1 h, a person checks); Match requisitions to tubes (under an hour, 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.
- 2%
- 10%
- 0%
- 31%
- 57%
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 12% 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, 6%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 12%. Today's estimate: 12%.
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 23 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.01% to 0.0049% (released February and March 2025); 0.0061% to none (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.01% | 530 of 708 | 2 of 23 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0049% | 587 of 703 | 1 of 23 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0061% | 511 of 655 | 2 of 23 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
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 82% of this job's working time as physical work. For 67% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 32% in a purpose-built cell, 35% in a structured facility. 1.01 of 3, the 111th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 18%
- No robot shown 15%
- In a purpose-built cell 32%
- In a structured facility 35%
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
88% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Train staff in phlebotomy, the in-person work, 17%
- Monitor donors, the in-person work, 12%
- Prepare and clean drawing trays, the hands-on work, 8%
- Run standard tests, the hands-on work, 8%
- Process samples, the hands-on work, 6%
- Draw blood from veins, the hands-on work, 5%
What becomes checking the machine
12% 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.
- Document specimen chain of custody, severe if wrong, 5%
- Enter patient and specimen information, severe if wrong, 4%
- Match requisitions to tubes, severe if wrong, 1%
- Determine donor suitability, severe if wrong, 0.9%
- Confirm patient identity, severe if wrong, 0.6%
- Pass results to physicians, severe if wrong, 0.5%
What to learn
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- The hands-on craft. About 57% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- The conversations. About 31% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- 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.
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 . 23 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train other medical personnel in phlebotomy or laboratory techniques.Teaching the techniques in person.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 17% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Monitor blood or plasma donors during and after procedures to ensure health, safety, and comfort.Watching the donor during and after the draw.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 12% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | In person 60%, hands-on 40% | Stays with people |
| Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use.Trays stocked with sterile, single-use items.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Autonomous Instrument Tray Assembly system (Stäubli TX2-60L + YOLO12/ResNet perception) (Univ. of Louisville / UMass / Saint Vincent's Hospital research group) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Conduct standards tests, such as blood alcohol, blood culture, oral glucose tolerance, glucose screening, blood smears, or peak and trough drug levels tests.Blood alcohol, cultures, glucose and drug level tests run.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Process blood or other fluid samples for further analysis by other medical professionals.Samples prepared for the lab.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Beckman Coulter DxA 5000 / Power Express workflow automation (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods.The venipuncture and the collection by hand.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Aletta Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device (ARPD) (Vitestro) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Document route of specimens from collection to laboratory analysis and diagnosis.Each step entered from collection to analysis.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Collect fluid or tissue samples, using appropriate collection procedures.Collection by the set procedure, with a word to the patient.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Vitestro Aletta Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device (ARPD) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | Hands-on 80%, in person 20% | Stays with people |
| Collect specimens at specific time intervals for tests, such as those assessing therapeutic drug levels.Draws at set intervals, with a word to the patient.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Aletta (ARPD) (Vitestro) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 10 min4 min to 17 min | Hands-on 80%, in person 20% | Stays with people |
| Enter patient, specimen, insurance, or billing information into computer.Patient, specimen and billing details entered.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 7 min3 min to 13 min | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Transport specimens or fluid samples from collection sites to laboratories.Carrying or driving samples to the lab.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Moxi (Diligent Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Dispose of blood or other biohazard fluids or tissue, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, or policies.Blood and tissue disposed of by the rules.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Vitestro autonomous blood drawing device (now Aletta ARPD) (demonstrated). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 7 min3 min to 17 min | Hands-on 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 Phlebotomists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 12% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 12% 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 Phlebotomists 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: Document specimen chain of custody (100% of the task's time now); Enter patient and specimen information (100% of the task's time now); and Match requisitions to tubes (40% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Phlebotomists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Train staff in phlebotomy; Monitor donors; and Prepare and clean drawing trays. Together such tasks are about 83% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Phlebotomists learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are judgment where errors are severe; the hands-on craft; and the conversations. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 88% of the working time stays with people, 12% 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 Phlebotomists?
- 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 Phlebotomists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 82% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 67% of the working time, 35% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.01 of 3. One example: Aletta Autonomous Robotic Phlebotomy Device (ARPD) for "draw blood from veins". 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 23 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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