Respiratory Therapists
In short: today's best AI models could do about 16% 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 84% of the time, stays with people.
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Initiate and conduct therapeutic procedures; maintain patient records; and select, assemble, check, and operate equipment.
139,790 people do this job in the US. $82,280 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 work6 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people34 h
Respiratory Therapists, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 6 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 34 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Determine treatment requirements (about 2 h, a person checks); Maintain patient charts (about 2 h, a person checks); Run tests for research and diagnosis (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.
- 10%
- 6%
- 3%
- 25%
- 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 16% 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, 15%. Today's estimate: 16%.
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: 0.1% to 0.036% (released February and March 2025); 0.043% to 0.024% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.1% | 169 of 708 | 3 of 23 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.036% | 326 of 703 | 3 of 23 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.043% | 254 of 655 | 3 of 23 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.028% | 333 of 672 | 2 of 23 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.024% | 373 of 677 | 2 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 72% of this job's working time as physical work. For 11% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 11% in a purpose-built cell. 0.11 of 3, the 511th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 28%
- No robot shown 61%
- In a purpose-built cell 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
84% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Assist the team with procedures, the hands-on work, 13%
- Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment, the hands-on work, 6%
- Operate ventilators and gas devices, the hands-on work, 6%
- Conduct cardiopulmonary tests, the hands-on work, 6%
- Educate patients and families, the in-person work, 6%
- Monitor responses and consult the physician, the hands-on work, 5%
What becomes checking the machine
15% 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.
- Determine treatment requirements, a licensed person signs, 5%
- Maintain patient charts, severe if wrong, 4%
- Run tests for research and diagnosis, a licensed person signs, 2%
- Assess condition from gases and records, a licensed person signs, 2%
- Maintain therapy equipment, severe if wrong, 0.9%
- Supervise students and technicians, a licensed person signs, 0.9%
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.
- 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.
- 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 28% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- 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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.Hands-on assistance in procedures with the care team.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 60%, in person 40% | Stays with people |
| Use a variety of testing techniques to assist doctors in cardiac or pulmonary research or to diagnose disorders.Testing techniques applied, with the results written up.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Hands-on 70%, documents 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment to obtain optimum results in therapy.Hands-on therapy with the equipment adjusted.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.1 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.Devices set up and run at the bedside.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Conduct tests, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), stress testing, or lung capacity tests, to evaluate patients' cardiopulmonary functions.EKGs, stress tests and lung capacity tests run.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Educate patients and their families about their conditions and teach appropriate disease management techniques, such as breathing exercises or the use of medications or respiratory equipment.Teaching disease management in person.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 33 min17 min to 1.1 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.Watching vital signs and gases at the bedside, and calling the physician on a reaction.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Hands-on 60%, conversation 40% | Stays with people |
| Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.Working out type, method, duration and dosage from the orders and record.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Perform bronchopulmonary drainage and assist or instruct patients in performance of breathing exercises.Hands-on drainage and coaching the patient through exercises.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, NAO-based socially assistive robot with sensor interface (heart rate, gait) (University of Hertfordshire / Fundación Cardioinfantil-Instituto de Cardiología) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 38 min | Hands-on 60%, in person 40% | Stays with people |
| Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.Keeping to the orders at the bedside.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Hands-on 60%, in person 40% | Stays with people |
| Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.Inspecting, cleaning and testing equipment, with repairs ordered.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Automation NTH FLEXBASE automated assembly cell (Hamilton Medical flow sensor tubes) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 80%, systems 20% | 20%Desk part half by now |
| Teach, train, supervise, or use the assistance of students, respiratory therapy technicians, or assistants.Teaching and supervising in the unit, with the planning.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | In person 80%, documents 20% | 20%Desk part 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. 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 Respiratory Therapists is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 16% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 16% 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 Respiratory 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: Determine treatment requirements (100% of the task's time now); Maintain patient charts (100% of the task's time now); and Run tests for research and diagnosis (30% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Respiratory Therapists stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Assist the team with procedures; Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment; and Operate ventilators and gas devices. Together such tasks are about 70% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Respiratory 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 judgment where errors are severe; signing off under your license; and the hands-on craft. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 84% of the working time stays with people, 15% 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 Respiratory 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 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 Respiratory Therapists?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 72% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 11% of the working time. Its index is 0.11 of 3. One example: NAO-based socially assistive robot with sensor interface (heart rate, gait) for "perform drainage and breathing exercises". 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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