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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Acupuncturists?
Task-level automation exposure for Acupuncturists: 18 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
30%
weighted task index
18 of 18 tasks scored
Median Salary
$76,040 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
7,830 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+8.6%
employment change
800 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 24 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$56,950 – $141,430
Highest medians
Tennessee $141,430
New Jersey $125,260
Indiana $120,490
Maryland $101,650
Massachusetts $93,360
Lowest medians
Colorado $56,950
Utah $58,620
Hawaii $64,570
Oregon $64,870
Michigan $65,490
State figures come from the 29-1291 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 30%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 4%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 78%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 6%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 36/100
Moderate
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
18 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 6%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 40%
7 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 54%
10 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#17357 · Core · 35% automatable
Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
decision support — AI recalls protocols; execution and accountability are human
Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
#17362 · Core · 10% automatable
Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
#17361 · Core · 35% automatable
Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
decision support — AI recalls protocols; execution and accountability are human
Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities.
#17373 · Core · 10% automatable
Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
#17370 · Core · 45% automatable
Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.
decision support — Draft non-medical plans; clinician validates and owns
Develop treatment plans that use non-medical therapies.
#17372 · Core · 10% automatable
Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
#17364 · Core · 43% automatable
Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.
data analysis — Outcome analysis from records, clinician interprets
Evaluate patient outcomes to determine effectiveness of treatments. Prescribe treatments or therapies.
#17366 · Core · 30% automatable
Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
interpersonal — Collecting from patients requires live clinical interaction
Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
#17358 · Core · 62% automatable
Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment
Record patient medical histories.
#17363 · Core · 30% automatable
Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.
interpersonal — Caregiver technique training is live and relational
Train patients, family members, or caregivers in techniques for managing disabilities or illnesses.
#17365 · Core · 12% automatable
Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses.
visual inspection — Patient physical assessment is hands-on clinical work
Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
#17369 · Core · 58% automatable
Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions.
visual inspection — Image interpretation assists; radiologist owns diagnosis
Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
#17360 · Core · 55% automatable
Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals.
decision support — Treatment guidance aided; clinical accountability human
Evaluate treatment options to guide medical decisions.
#17359 · Core · 55% automatable
Dispense herbal formulas and inform patients of dosages and frequencies, treatment duration, possible side effects, and drug interactions.
decision support — Treatment-effect advice needs clinical tailoring
Advise patients on effects of health conditions or treatments.
#17368 · Core · 8% automatable
Apply heat or cold therapy to patients using materials, such as heat pads, hydrocollator packs, warm compresses, cold compresses, heat lamps, or vapor coolants.
physical manipulation — Physical therapy techniques are hands-on body work
Treat patients using physical therapy techniques.
#17356 · Core · 15% automatable
Formulate herbal preparations to treat conditions considering herbal properties, such as taste, toxicity, effects of preparation, contraindications, and incompatibilities.
physical manipulation — Medication preparation needs precise hands-on work
Prepare medications or medical solutions.
#17371 · Core · 10% automatable
Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
#17367 · Core · 10% automatable
Apply moxibustion directly or indirectly to patients using Chinese, non-scarring, stick, or pole moxa.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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