Will AI replace Physical Therapist Aides?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
14/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 26% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 4% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 22% of the work
What the job involves
Under close supervision of a physical therapist or physical therapy assistant, perform only delegated, selected, or routine tasks in specific situations. These duties include preparing the patient and the treatment area.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Schedule patient appointments with physical therapists and coordinate therapists' schedules.
Within reach(3)
- Perform clerical duties, such as taking inventory, ordering supplies, answering telephone, taking messages, or filling out forms.
- Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
- Record treatment given and equipment used.
Out of reach(15)
- Clean and organize work area and disinfect equipment after treatment.
- Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
- Instruct, motivate, safeguard, or assist patients practicing exercises or functional activities, under direction of medical staff.
- Transport patients to and from treatment areas, using wheelchairs or providing standing support.
- Change linens, such as bed sheets and pillow cases.
and 10 more
Also called
Physical Therapy Aide (PTA) · PTA · PT Attendant (Physical Therapy Attendant) · PT Attendant · Therapy Aide · Physiotherapy Aide · Physical Therapist Aide (PTA) · PT Tech (Physical Therapist Technician)
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