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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Orthotists and Prosthetists?
Task-level automation exposure for Orthotists and Prosthetists: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
29%
weighted task index
15 of 15 tasks scored
Median Salary
$81,110 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
9,390 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+12.9%
employment change
700 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 45 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$44,080 – $118,950
Highest medians
New Jersey $118,950
Washington $105,240
Utah $96,530
Maryland $95,030
Oregon $93,790
Lowest medians
District of Columbia $44,080
Nebraska $61,290
North Dakota $62,570
New Mexico $62,970
Kentucky $64,730
State figures come from the 29-2091 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 29%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 37%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 39%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 11%
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 10/100
Low
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
15 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) 13%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 14%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 73%
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
#9384 · Core · 10% automatable
Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
physical manipulation — Hands-on fitting of prostheses to bodies
Adjust prostheses or other assistive devices.
#9385 · Core · 30% automatable
Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
interpersonal — Patient assistive-equipment instruction is hands-on care
Instruct patients in the use of assistive equipment.
#9387 · Core · 62% automatable
Maintain patients' records.
interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment
Record patient medical histories.
#9383 · Core · 19% automatable
Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
interpersonal — Collecting from patients requires live clinical interaction
Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals. Examine patients to assess general physical condition. Measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients.
#9389 · Core · 10% automatable
Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
physical manipulation — Medical device fabrication is physical manufacturing
Fabricate medical devices.
#9386 · Core · 28% automatable
Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions and examination and measurement of patients.
decision support — AI assists concepts; device design requires regulatory and physical testing
Design medical devices or appliances.
#9391 · Core · 10% automatable
Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
physical manipulation — Medical device fabrication is physical manufacturing
Fabricate medical devices. Adjust prostheses or other assistive devices.
#9392 · Core · 19% automatable
Construct and fabricate appliances, or supervise others constructing the appliances.
interpersonal — Medical support supervision is live, accountable
Fabricate medical devices. Supervise medical support personnel.
#9388 · Core · 10% automatable
Make and modify plaster casts of areas to be fitted with prostheses or orthoses to guide the device construction process.
physical manipulation — Medical device fabrication is physical manufacturing
Fabricate medical devices.
#9390 · Core · 40% automatable
Confer with physicians to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
interpersonal — Treatment planning collaboration is accountable clinical work
Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
#9395 · Core · 30% automatable
Show and explain orthopedic and prosthetic appliances to healthcare workers.
interpersonal — Provider training is clinical, hands-on, accountable
Train medical providers.
#9393 · Core · 29% automatable
Train and supervise support staff, such as orthopedic and prosthetic assistants and technicians.
interpersonal — Provider training is clinical, hands-on, accountable
Train medical providers. Supervise medical support personnel.
#9394 · Core · 75% automatable
Update skills and knowledge by attending conferences and seminars.
information retrieval — AI summarizes medical updates; human retains judgment
Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
#9396 · Core · 40% automatable
Research new ways to construct and use orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
information retrieval — Literature review aided; wet-lab and clinical research human
Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
#9397 · Supplemental · 52% automatable
Publish research findings or present them at conferences and seminars.
interpersonal — Medical research presentation needs human delivery
Present medical research reports.
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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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