Physical Therapist Aides

Most exposed tasks

Highest structured exposure values in this role’s task mix — the work AI systems can already do most of.

• Schedule patient appointments with physical therapists and coordinate therapists' schedules.60

Augmentable tasks

Work where AI assists rather than replaces — the productivity frontier of this role.

• Record treatment given and equipment used.59
• Observe patients during treatment to compile and evaluate data on patients' responses and progress and report to physical therapist.51
• Perform clerical duties, such as taking inventory, ordering supplies, answering telephone, taking messages, or filling out forms.47

Most durable tasks

Lowest exposure — typically judgment, relationships, physical presence, or accountability. This is the human moat.

• Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, or heat, light, sound, water, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound.30

Task exposure values and classifications come from the versioned data release — they are structured data, not model output. Bars show exposure contribution relative to this role’s task mix.

What this means

A score of 42 puts Physical Therapist Aides in the second quartile of analyzed occupations. In practice, exposure this level is about the mix: 1 of 19 analyzed tasks lean automatable, 17 augmentable, and 1 durable. The useful question isn’t “will AI take this job” — it’s which tasks go first, which get faster, and where to reposition time. That’s what the personalized report maps against your actual week.

One next move: adopt AI deliberately on the augmentable tasks and build visible evidence of the durable ones.

Lower-exposure adjacent roles

No adjacent role in the current data release is at least 10 points lower with ≥50% skill overlap — we don’t label anything “safer” unless the data supports it.

Labor-market context

• $35,240median wage
• 48,150employed
• 6,600annual openings
• +2.9%projected growth

Context only — labor statistics are not inputs to the exposure score. See methodology.

Related roles

Adjacent by skills or family — no exposure claim implied.

• Physical Therapist Assistants 43
• Occupational Therapy Aides 44
• Occupational Therapy Assistants 49
• Psychiatric Technicians 41
• Psychiatric Aides 44
• Occupational Therapist 16

FAQ — Physical Therapist Aides

What does a score of 42 mean for a Physical Therapist Aides?

It means that, weighted across the 19 tasks we analyzed for this role, the task mix sits at 42 on a 0–100 exposure scale — in the second quartile of analyzed occupations. It measures task exposure to current and near-term AI capabilities, not the probability of losing a job.

Which tasks in this role are most exposed to AI?

The highest-exposure tasks are: Schedule patient appointments with physical therapists and coordinate therapists' schedules. Exposure is scored per task from structured data, not generated by a language model.

Which parts of this job are most durable?

The most durable responsibilities are: Administer active or passive manual therapeutic exercises, therapeutic massage, or heat, light, sound, water, or electrical modality treatments, such as ultrasound. Durable tasks typically depend on judgment, relationships, physical presence, or accountability.

Is this score personalized to me?

No — this page shows the occupation-level baseline. Two people with the same title often do different work. The $9 personalized report recalculates the score from the tasks you actually do and builds a concrete 7/30/90-day plan around them.