Respiratory Therapists

Most exposed tasks

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

• Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.68
• Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.65
• Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.63

Augmentable tasks

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

• Relay blood analysis results to a physician.59
• Perform pulmonary function and adjust equipment to obtain optimum results in therapy.57
• Demonstrate respiratory care procedures to trainees or other healthcare personnel.56

Most durable tasks

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

• Use a variety of testing techniques to assist doctors in cardiac or pulmonary research or to diagnose disorders.33
• Teach, train, supervise, or use the assistance of students, respiratory therapy technicians, or assistants.33

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 53 puts Respiratory Therapists in the third quartile of analyzed occupations. In practice, exposure this high is about the mix: 5 of 20 analyzed tasks lean automatable, 13 augmentable, and 2 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: audit how much of your week sits in the exposed tasks above — then shift time toward the durable set or investigate the adjacent roles below.

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

• $82,280median wage
• 139,790employed
• 8,800annual openings
• +12.0%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.

• Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians 63
• Critical Care Nurses 47
• Acute Care Nurses 52
• Radiation Therapists 66
• Paramedic 18
• Physical Therapist 20

FAQ — Respiratory Therapists

What does a score of 53 mean for a Respiratory Therapists?

It means that, weighted across the 20 tasks we analyzed for this role, the task mix sits at 53 on a 0–100 exposure scale — in the third 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: Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information; Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition; Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders. 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: Use a variety of testing techniques to assist doctors in cardiac or pulmonary research or to diagnose disorders; Teach, train, supervise, or use the assistance of students, respiratory therapy technicians, or assistants. 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.