Will AI replace Nuclear Medicine Technologists?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
26/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 43% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 7% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 36% of the work
What the job involves
Prepare, administer, and measure radioactive isotopes in therapeutic, diagnostic, and tracer studies using a variety of radioisotope equipment. Prepare stock solutions of radioactive materials and calculate doses to be administered by radiologists. Subject patients to radiation. Execute blood volume, red cell survival, and fat absorption studies following standard laboratory techniques.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Record and process results of procedures.
Within reach(5)
- Explain test procedures and safety precautions to patients and provide them with assistance during test procedures.
- Dispose of radioactive materials and store radiopharmaceuticals, following radiation safety procedures.
- Calculate, measure, and record radiation dosage or radiopharmaceuticals received, used, and disposed, using computer and following physician's prescription.
- Gather information on patients' illnesses and medical history to guide the choice of diagnostic procedures for therapy.
- Develop treatment procedures for nuclear medicine treatment programs.
Out of reach(11)
- Administer radiopharmaceuticals or radiation intravenously to detect or treat diseases, using radioisotope equipment, under direction of a physician.
- Detect and map radiopharmaceuticals in patients' bodies, using a camera to produce photographic or computer images.
- Produce a computer-generated or film image for interpretation by a physician.
- Perform quality control checks on laboratory equipment or cameras.
- Process cardiac function studies, using computer.
and 6 more
Also called
Certified Nuclear Medicine Technologist (CNMT) · Nuclear Cardiology Technologist · Nuclear Medicine Technologist (NMT) · Registered Nuclear Medicine Technologist · CNMT · Isotope Technician · Nuclear Medical Technologist · NMT
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics