Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · United States (national)
Respiratory Therapists
How exposed this work is to automation, shown as ranges with the reasoning and sources.
The short version: this role is moderately exposed to automation, and a near-term shift looks unlikely.
It is a sourced range, not a verdict, and the detail is below.
Built on O*NET tasks, BLS pay and projections, and peer-reviewed AI-exposure research. Sources shown.
Data snapshot SNAPSHOT-2026-11-06. How it works
AI / softwarerange 7.1 to 31.1
Physical / roboticsrange 33.8 to 57.8
When the change is likely
Largely unaffectedlocal demand growing
What to do about it
Use AI to outpace AI.
Strategies to protect your livelihood, most important first.
1
Stay sharp; urgency is low
This role looks durable. Keep your skills current and watch for shifts in your field.
2
Move up from the task to the system
Robotics targets the physical work. Shift toward supervising, maintaining, or programming the automation instead of competing with it.
3
Pivot toward Paramedics
It is skill-adjacent and less exposed (19.2 vs 46). A lateral move now beats a forced one later.
4
Build a financial buffer
Keep 6 to 12 months of expenses and diversify your income, so a disruption is a setback rather than a catastrophe.
5
Add a recognised credential
A certification or license raises the bar against automation and signals value in a tightening market.
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Which of my tasks are exposed
Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
45.8
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.
50.0
Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
100.0
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.
100.0
Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
45.8
Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
50.0
Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
45.8
Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
100.0
Longer, orange bars are more automatable; short green bars are resistant.
What is driving my result
lowers risk
raises risk
Task: Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
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.
Local demand is growing
Lower-risk adjacent roles
Paramedics
19.2
Physical Therapists
36.4
Acute Care Nurses
39.6
Critical Care Nurses
42.0
A full, ranked mitigation plan is part of the paid tiers.
How this score is calculated
Map Respiratory Therapists to its standard O*NET task list (8 core tasks).
Score each task for AI/software exposure (Eloundou et al. 2023) and physical/robotics exposure (an O*NET work-context proxy), each 0 to 100.
The two axis scores are the task averages: AI 19.1, robotics 45.8.
The timeline comes from the higher axis (45.8), shifted for local demand (growing), and seniority. It is read against your remaining working years.
Ranges are about ±12 points. A backtest against real BLS employment change shows the risk ranking holds in aggregate, but individual outcomes are predicted weakly, so results are ranges, never a flat verdict.
Sources: O*NET, Eloundou et al. (2023), GPTs are GPTs, O*NET Work Context, BLS CPI-U, BLS OEWS.
Snapshot SNAPSHOT-2026-11-06. Full method and backtest on How it works.