Physical therapist assistants and aides: AI exposure and career outlook
Physical therapist assistants and aides (SOC 31-2020) sit at the 3rd percentile for measured AI exposure among the 342 occupations tracked here, measured from a composite of Microsoft Research and Anthropic Economic Index telemetry. An estimated 4% of tasks are already automated and 11% are being reshaped rather than replaced — both modelled figures, not direct measurements. Of the Claude usage observed in this occupation, 51% follows an automation pattern and 49% an augmentation pattern, which places it in the Insulated group: little measured AI exposure so far. No urgency here, though the tools are still worth having in your hands. In Canada the role maps to NOC 32109 (Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment), and ESDC's COPS 2024–2033 outlook for that unit group is moderate risk of shortage.
Figures last updated 2026-06. Every number on this page is labelled measured or modelled; where a source has no coverage for this occupation, it says so rather than showing a zero.
Key facts
- SOC code
- 31-2020
- Canada NOC 2021
- 32109
- TEER level
- Not available
- COPS outlook
- Moderate risk of Shortage
What the measurements actually say
Three independent studies measure AI exposure for this occupation directly. The two percentages below them are ours, modelled from those measurements.
| Metric | Value | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| AI applicability | 4% | Measured — Microsoft Research, from 200,000 Copilot conversations classified against O*NET work activities. Occupation-group average of 2 detailed roles. |
| Observed AI usage | 0% | Measured — Anthropic Economic Index, share of tasks observed being performed with Claude (CC-BY 4.0). Occupation-group average of 2 detailed roles. |
| Academic AI exposure | 31st percentile | Measured — Felten-Raj-Seamans AIOE index across 774 occupations; the index underlying Statistics Canada's Canadian estimates. Occupation-group average of 2 detailed roles. |
| Automation-pattern usage | 51% | Measured — the share of observed Claude usage in this occupation where the task is handed over rather than iterated on (Anthropic Economic Index). Occupation-group average of 1 detailed roles. |
| Augmentation-pattern usage | 49% | Measured — the complement of the row above; the two sum to 100% by construction. This is the pattern where the person stays in the loop. |
| Estimated task automation (modelled) | 4% | Modelled from this occupation's measured telemetry composite, mapped through anchors calibrated to Anthropic's published aggregate findings. Our estimate, not per-occupation telemetry. |
| Estimated task reshaping (modelled) | 11% | Share of tasks where AI acts as co-pilot rather than replacement. Modelled from the measured telemetry composite, calibrated to BCG's published aggregate reshaping rates. Our estimate. |
This skill domain has minimal AI substitution risk. AI is primarily augmenting — not replacing — professionals here.
In Canada: NOC 32109
Physical therapist assistants and aides map to NOC 32109 — Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment. ESDC's COPS 2024–2033 projection for this unit group is Moderate risk of Shortage.
Mapped via Statistics Canada's official SOC 2018 → NOC 2016 → NOC 2021 correspondence tables (closest match of several correspondence candidates). TEER is the second digit of the NOC code, so it is only as certain as the code is. Several correspondence candidates were available here and we took the closest by title, so we do not report a TEER level for it.
What this job actually involves
These are the O*NET task statements for Physical therapist assistants and aides— the work itself, as reported by people doing the job — grouped by the work activity each task belongs to. Showing 12 of 35, core tasks first.
The exposure figures above are for the occupation as a whole. We do not have a per-task measurement: no published dataset tells us which of these specific tasks AI is doing. Read this as what the job is made of, not as a ranking of what is at risk.
1 of these 12statements do carry one measured signal: Anthropic publishes, per O*NET task, how much of the observed Claude usage on it looked like automation rather than iteration. Those are marked below. It still says how people use AI on that task, not how much of it AI can do — and the unmarked statements carry nothing rather than inheriting the occupation's figure.
Microsoft's applicability score was itself produced by classifying Copilot conversations against the O*NET work-activity catalogue — the same catalogue these groups come from. The published file gives one number per occupation, not one per activity, so we can tell you that 4% of this occupation's work activities are covered by observed AI usage, but not which ones.
SOC 31-2020 is a BLS occupation group. These statements are pooled across the 2 detailed occupations in it, so a given task may apply to only some of them.
Performing General Physical Activities · 3 tasks
Clean and organize work area and disinfect equipment after treatment.
Core task · Importance 4.5/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Transport patients to and from treatment areas, lifting and transferring them according to positioning requirements.
Core task · Importance 4.4/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Clean work area and check and store equipment after treatment.
Core task · Importance 4.3/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Assisting and Caring for Others · 2 tasks
Secure patients into or onto therapy equipment.
Core task · Importance 4.6/5 (O*NET)
Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, aquatic physical therapy, or heat, light, sound, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.
Core task · Importance 4.4/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Developing and Building Teams · 2 tasks
Instruct, motivate, safeguard, and assist patients as they practice exercises or functional activities.
Core task · Importance 4.9/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Instruct, motivate, safeguard, or assist patients practicing exercises or functional activities, under direction of medical staff.
Core task · Importance 4.4/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Training and Teaching Others · 2 tasks
Instruct patients in proper body mechanics and in ways to improve functional mobility, such as aquatic exercise.
Core task · Importance 4.7/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Communicate with or instruct caregivers or family members on patient therapeutic activities or treatment plans.
Core task · Importance 4.3/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings · 1 task
Observe patients during treatments to compile and evaluate data on their responses and progress and provide results to physical therapist in person or through progress notes.
Core task · Importance 4.8/5 (O*NET) · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Documenting/Recording Information · 1 task
Document patient information, such as notes on their progress.
Core task · Importance 4.9/5 (O*NET) · 52% of observed AI use on this task is automation-pattern · reported by 1 of 2 occupations in this group
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates · 1 task
Confer with physical therapy staff or others to discuss and evaluate patient information for planning, modifying, or coordinating treatment.
Core task · Importance 4.5/5 (O*NET)
Task statements and work activities from the O*NET Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not reviewed or approved this material.
That's the average. Is this you?
Everything above describes Physical therapist assistants and aides as a whole. Three questions, and nothing is stored or sent.
Where are you in your career?
What does your week mostly look like?
Is your employer deploying AI?
Where the leverage is
With low AI exposure, the focus for this role is on adopting productivity tools. Leverage AI for scheduling, administrative tasks, and analytics to double operational throughput.
Physical requirements and manual dexterity provide strong natural insulation from AI substitution. AI is primarily a peripheral tool for diagnostics.
Obtain technical certifications in advanced diagnostic tools and smart systems relevant to physical therapist assistants and aides to prepare for future technological integrations.
This guidance is written per exposure band — three texts across all 342 occupations, framed on the ILO's transformation-versus-displacement distinction. It is editorial guidance for the safe band, not an occupation-specific research finding about physical therapist assistants and aides.
Sources for this occupation
Only the sources that hold data for physical therapist assistants and aides are listed. A study that does not cover this occupation is not cited here.
- Microsoft Research — Working with AI (Tomlinson et al., arXiv:2507.07935): Measured AI applicability, from 200,000 anonymised Copilot conversations classified against O*NET work activities.
- Anthropic Economic Index: Measured observed AI usage per occupation, from Anthropic's open per-SOC dataset (CC-BY 4.0).
- Felten, Raj & Seamans — AI Occupational Exposure index: Measured academic exposure percentile; the index underlying Statistics Canada's Canadian AI-exposure estimates (Mehdi & Morissette, 2024).
- O*NET Database 31.0 (USDOL/ETA), CC BY 4.0: The occupation's task statements and work activities, verbatim. Joined on SOC 2018 with no crosswalk — O*NET-SOC is built on SOC — and carrying no claim about which tasks AI touches.
- Anthropic Economic Index — collaboration split (release 2026-06-26, CC-BY 4.0): Measured share of observed Claude usage following an automation rather than an augmentation pattern. This is the second axis of the grouping above.
- Statistics Canada NOC 2021 concordance: Official SOC 2018 → NOC 2016 V1.3 → NOC 2021 V1.0 correspondence tables. TEER is the second digit of the resolved code, so we report it only where the concordance gave a single candidate.
- ESDC COPS 2024–2033: Projected labour-market assessment per NOC 2021 unit group, from the Canadian Occupational Projection System open dataset.
- BCG — AI Will Reshape More Jobs Than It Replaces (April 3, 2026): Published aggregate reshaping rates, used to calibrate our modelled percentages. The per-occupation figures here are our estimates, not BCG's data.
Related occupations
Other roles in Trades & Healthcare.
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