Occupational Therapists

Complete and maintain necessary records.

AI: Fully automatable - Completing and maintaining records is readily automatable with electronic health record integrations and AI data‑entry/management systems.

Help clients improve decision making, abstract reasoning, memory, sequencing, coordination, and perceptual skills, using computer programs.

AI: Fully automatable - AI-driven adaptive computer programs and digital therapeutics can already deliver and tailor cognitive exercises to improve decision-making, memory, sequencing and related skills with minimal human intervention.

Test and evaluate patients' physical and mental abilities and analyze medical data to determine realistic rehabilitation goals for patients.

AI: Partial - AI can run standardized assessments and analyze medical data to suggest rehabilitation goals, but tailoring goals to complex individual psychosocial and functional contexts still requires clinician judgment.

Train caregivers how to provide for the needs of a patient during and after therapy.

AI: Partial - AI can generate training materials, simulate scenarios, and deliver remote instruction for caregivers, however hands‑on coaching and adapting to subtle patient/caregiver interactions are not fully automatable.

Evaluate patients' progress and prepare reports that detail progress.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze standardized assessment data and draft detailed progress reports, but final clinical evaluation and judgment still require a human clinician's oversight and contextual knowledge.

Plan, organize, and conduct occupational therapy programs in hospital, institutional, or community settings to help rehabilitate those impaired because of illness, injury or psychological or developmental problems.

AI: Partial - AI can assist heavily with planning and organizing therapy programs (scheduling, protocol generation, remote delivery), but cannot fully replace the in-person, hands-on conduct and real‑time clinical adjustments an occupational therapist provides.

Select activities that will help individuals learn work and life-management skills within limits of their mental or physical capabilities.

AI: Partial - AI can recommend individualized activities based on assessments and constraints, yet selecting and adapting activities to nuanced patient preferences, safety and subtle functional capacities still requires human professional input.

Recommend changes in patients' work or living environments, consistent with their needs and capabilities.

AI: Partial - AI can generate evidence-based environmental modification recommendations from photos and data, but accurate on-site assessment, customization, and implementation oversight typically need a clinician or fitter.

Design and create, or requisition, special supplies and equipment, such as splints, braces, and computer-aided adaptive equipment.

AI: Partial - AI can design adaptive devices (CAD models, digital prescriptions) and recommend requisitions, but fabrication, hands-on fitting (e.g., splints) and clinical adjustments still require human/technical staff.

Develop and participate in health promotion programs, group activities, or discussions to promote client health, facilitate social adjustment, alleviate stress, and prevent physical or mental disability.

AI: Partial - AI can develop program content, run virtual group sessions, and support health promotion, but effective in-person facilitation, rapport-building, and managing group dynamics remain human tasks.

Consult with rehabilitation team to select activity programs or coordinate occupational therapy with other therapeutic activities.

AI: Partial - AI can synthesize patient data and propose coordinated plans for multidisciplinary teams, but clinical negotiation, responsibility, and nuanced interdisciplinary decision-making still rely on human clinicians.

Plan and implement programs and social activities to help patients learn work or school skills and adjust to handicaps.

AI: Partial - AI can plan and even deliver many program components (digital skill training, curricula), but in-person implementation, social facilitation and individualized behavioral management still need human therapists.

Provide training and supervision in therapy techniques and objectives for students or nurses and other medical staff.

AI: Partial - AI can generate curricula, demonstrations, and remote coaching tools to support training, but cannot fully replace in-person, licensed clinical supervision and hands‑on correction.

Conduct research in occupational therapy.

AI: Partial - AI can automate literature review, data analysis, hypothesis generation, and study design assistance, but cannot autonomously run clinical studies, obtain ethics approvals, or manage human-subjects interactions.

Advise on health risks in the workplace or on health-related transition to retirement.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze job tasks, ergonomics, and generate workplace risk and retirement transition guidance, but individualized medical, legal, and on-site evaluations require human professionals.

Provide patients with assistance in locating or holding jobs.

AI: Partial - AI can assist with job matching, resume/interview coaching, accommodation recommendations, and outreach automation, but cannot fully manage interpersonal employer negotiation or hands-on vocational supports.

Lay out materials such as puzzles, scissors and eating utensils for use in therapy, and clean and repair these tools after therapy sessions.

AI: Not automatable - This is a physical, hands‑on task (laying out, cleaning, repairing therapy materials) that AI alone cannot perform in typical clinical settings as of 2025.