Radiologists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 59% 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 67% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 33% of the time, stays with people.
Diagnose and treat diseases and injuries using medical imaging techniques, such as x rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear medicine, and ultrasounds. May perform minimally invasive medical procedures and tests.
26,770 people do this job in the US. $420,860 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on24 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet3 h
- Stays with people13 h
Radiologists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 24 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 3 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 13 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Formulate plans and procedures for nuclear medicine departments (about 5 h); Develop or monitor procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images (about 3 h); Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings (about 3 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.
- 67%
- 17%
- 16%
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, 4%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 39%. Today's estimate: 59%.
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: 0.14% to 0.11% (released February and March 2025); 0.043% to 0.035% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.14% | 117 of 708 | 8 of 30 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.11% | 149 of 703 | 9 of 30 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.043% | 260 of 655 | 4 of 30 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.024% | 364 of 672 | 3 of 30 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.035% | 304 of 677 | 7 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 38% of this job's working time as physical work. For 0% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere. 0.00 of 3.
- Not physical 62%
- No robot shown 38%
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 . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formulate plans and procedures for nuclear medicine departments. | 21% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 61%Half by now | |
| Teach nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology, or other specialties at graduate educational level. | 12% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Develop or monitor procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 8% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Establish and enforce radiation protection standards for patients and staff. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | 97%Half by now | |
| Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Establish or enforce standards for protection of patients or personnel.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy catheter placement.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test dosage evaluation instruments and survey meters to ensure they are operating properly.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, COMECER THEODORICO 2 robotic dispenser (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Participate in quality improvement activities including discussions of areas where risk of error is high.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Coordinate radiological services with other medical activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Document the performance, interpretation, or outcomes of all procedures performed.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 2% | 13 min4 min to 21 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.
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 Radiologists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 59% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 67% 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 Radiologists 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: Formulate plans and procedures for nuclear medicine departments (61% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Develop or monitor procedures to ensure adequate quality control of images (100% of the task's time now); and Prepare comprehensive interpretive reports of findings (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Radiologists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Teach nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology, or other specialties at graduate educational level; Perform or interpret the outcomes of diagnostic imaging procedures including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computer tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear cardiology treadmill studies, mammography, or ultrasound; and Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy catheter placement. Together such tasks are about 33% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Radiologists?
- 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 20%. 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 Radiologists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 38% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 0% of the working time. Its index is 0.00 of 3. One example: MEDRAD Intego PET Infusion System for "administer radioisotopes to clinical patients or research subjects". 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, 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.
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