Radiologic Technologists and Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 27% 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 29% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 71% of the time, stays with people.
Take x-rays and CAT scans or administer nonradioactive materials into patient's bloodstream for diagnostic or research purposes. Includes radiologic technologists and technicians who specialize in other scanning modalities.
230,490 people do this job in the US. $80,110 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 on1 h
- A person checks AI's work10 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people28 h
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 10 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 28 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Manage the department's budget and schedules (about 3 h, a person checks); Keep patient records and reports (about 2 h, a person checks); Handle phones and scheduling (about 1 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.
- 12%
- 17%
- 4%
- 16%
- 52%
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 27% 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, 7%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 21%. Today's estimate: 27%.
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 30 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.022% to 0.0093% (released February and March 2025); 0.0039% to 0.0064% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.022% | 431 of 708 | 6 of 30 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0093% | 520 of 703 | 4 of 30 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0039% | 559 of 655 | 1 of 30 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0035% | 603 of 672 | 1 of 30 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0064% | 547 of 677 | 3 of 30 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 30 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 30 |
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 55% of this job's working time as physical work. For 33% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 22% in a purpose-built cell, 11% in a structured facility. 0.43 of 3, the 333rd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 45%
- No robot shown 22%
- In a purpose-built cell 22%
- In a structured facility 11%
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
71% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Take bedside and portable x-rays, the hands-on work, 7%
- Perform imaging procedures, the hands-on work, 7%
- Assist in complex procedures, the hands-on work, 6%
- Operate imaging equipment, the hands-on work, 6%
- Run fluoroscopy for catheter work, the hands-on work, 5%
- Set up exam rooms, the hands-on work, 4%
What becomes checking the machine
26% 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. Another 3% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Manage the department's budget and schedules, costly if wrong, 9%
- Keep patient records and reports, severe if wrong, 4%
- Check image quality, a licensed person signs, 2%
- Run the image archive system, costly if wrong, 2%
- Process the images, costly if wrong, 2%
- Program scan sequences, a licensed person signs, 2%
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 52% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- 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 20% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
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 . 30 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform supervisory duties, such as developing departmental operating budget, coordinating purchases of supplies or equipment, or preparing work schedules.Budgets, purchases and schedules at the desk.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 80%Half by now |
| Operate mobile x-ray equipment in operating room, emergency room, or at patient's bedside.Running the mobile unit at the bedside.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, CyberKnife with Synchrony/target-locating x-ray imaging (Accuray) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Perform procedures, such as linear tomography, mammography, sonograms, joint and cyst aspirations, routine contrast studies, routine fluoroscopy, or examinations of the head, trunk, or extremities under supervision of physician.Hands-on procedures under the physician.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 33 min13 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Provide assistance to physicians or other technologists in the performance of more complex procedures.Hands-on help in the room.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Operate or oversee operation of radiologic or magnetic imaging equipment to produce images of the body for diagnostic purposes.Running the scanner from the console and the table.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Multitom Rax (Twin Robotic X-ray) (Siemens Healthineers) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 38 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Operate fluoroscope to aid physician to view and guide wire or catheter through blood vessels to area of interest.Operating the fluoroscope in the procedure room.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Perform general administrative tasks, such as answering phones, scheduling patient appointments, or pulling and filing films.Calls and bookings.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Systems 50%, conversation 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Record, process, and maintain patient data or treatment records and prepare reports.Entries in the record and the reports.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Systems 80%, documents 20% | 100%Half by now |
| Take thorough and accurate patient medical histories.Asking the patient and entering the answers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | In person 70%, systems 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Set up examination rooms, ensuring that all necessary equipment is ready.Readying the room and the equipment by hand.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 21 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare contrast material, radiopharmaceuticals, or anesthetic or antispasmodic drugs under the direction of a radiologist.Drawing up and preparing by hand under the radiologist's direction.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, MEDRAD Centargo CT Injection System (Bayer) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Monitor patients' conditions and reactions, reporting abnormal signs to physician.Watching the patient and a word to the physician.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | In person 70%, conversation 30% | 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.
- Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians31% now, 31% by 2028
- Diagnostic Medical Sonographers32% now, 32% by 2028
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists62% now, 62% by 2028
- Radiation Therapists29% now, 29% by 2028
- Neurodiagnostic Technologists40% now, 40% by 2028
- Nuclear Medicine Technologists29% 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 Radiologic Technologists and Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 27% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 29% 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 Radiologic Technologists and Technicians 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: Manage the department's budget and schedules (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Keep patient records and reports (100% of the task's time now); and Handle phones and scheduling (50% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Radiologic Technologists and Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Take bedside and portable x-rays; Perform imaging procedures; and Assist in complex procedures. Together such tasks are about 60% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Radiologic Technologists and Technicians 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 signing off under your license. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 71% of the working time stays with people, 26% becomes checking a model's work and 3% 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 Radiologic Technologists and Technicians?
- 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 Radiologic Technologists and Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 55% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 33% of the working time, 11% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.43 of 3. One example: BUDD-e for "move patients to and from exam rooms". 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 30 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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