Will AI replace Orthotists and Prosthetists?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
18/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 32% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 36% of the work
What the job involves
Design, measure, fit, and adapt orthopedic braces, appliances or prostheses, such as limbs or facial parts for patients with disabling conditions.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(6)
- Maintain patients' records.
- Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions and examination and measurement of patients.
- Confer with physicians to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
- Update skills and knowledge by attending conferences and seminars.
- Research new ways to construct and use orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
and 1 more
Out of reach(9)
- Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
- Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
- Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
- Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
- Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
and 4 more
Also called
Orthotist · Prosthetist · Certified Orthotist (CO) · Certified Prosthetist (CP) · Certified Orthotic Fitter · CO · CP · Pedorthist
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