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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Pharmacy Aides?
Task-level automation exposure for Pharmacy Aides: 17 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
47%
weighted task index
17 of 17 tasks scored
Median Salary
$37,680 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
39,530 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-0.7%
employment change
5,100 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 49 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$28,100 – $59,960
Highest medians
District of Columbia $59,960
Utah $51,600
Hawaii $46,250
Washington $45,110
Arizona $43,360
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $28,100
Mississippi $28,380
Tennessee $30,170
Oklahoma $30,360
Nebraska $31,610
State figures come from the 31-9095 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 47%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 26%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 12%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 26%
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 51/100
High
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
17 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) 39%
6 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 29%
5 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 32%
6 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
#2058 · Core · 72% automatable
Process medical insurance claims, posting bill amounts and calculating copayments.
data analysis — Medical billing coded and processed; human audits denials
Process medical billing information.
#2046 · Core · 67% automatable
Answer telephone inquiries, referring callers to pharmacist when necessary.
interpersonal — Call routing automatable; nuanced calls need human
Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information. Respond to customer inquiries.
#2050 · Core · 60% automatable
Prepare prescription labels by typing or operating a computer and printer.
text generation — Clerical medical paperwork aided; compliance review human
Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#2052 · Core · 60% automatable
Operate cash register to process cash or credit sales.
text generation — Clerical medical paperwork aided; compliance review human
Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#2057 · Core · 55% automatable
Prepare, maintain, and record records of inventories, receipts, purchases, or deliveries, using a variety of computer screen formats.
data analysis — Records trackable; physical verification of medical stock human
Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
#18704 · Core · 55% automatable
Receive, store, and inventory pharmaceutical supplies or medications, check for out-of-date medications, and notify pharmacist when inventory levels are low.
data analysis — Records trackable; physical verification of medical stock human
Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
#2045 · Core · 55% automatable
Accept prescriptions for filling, gathering and processing necessary information.
decision support — Refill authorization rules automatable; clinician signs off
Control prescription refills or authorizations.
#2055 · Core · 9% automatable
Maintain and clean equipment, work areas, or shelves.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of medical equipment
Clean medical equipment. Maintain medical equipment or instruments.
#2061 · Core · 82% automatable
Calculate anticipated drug usage for a prescribed period.
data analysis — Routine medical calculations; human checks inputs
Calculate numerical data for medical activities.
#2054 · Core · 66% automatable
Perform clerical tasks, such as filing, compiling and maintaining prescription records, or composing letters.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Maintain medical records. Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#2053 · Core · 10% automatable
Restock storage areas, replenishing items on shelves.
physical manipulation — Hands-on stocking of medical supplies
Stock medical or patient care supplies.
#2048 · Core · 30% automatable
Greet customers and help them locate merchandise.
interpersonal — Customer service is relational and accountability-bearing
Provide customer service to clients or users. Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.
#2049 · Core · 55% automatable
Unpack, sort, count, and label incoming merchandise, including items requiring special handling or refrigeration.
data analysis — Records trackable; physical verification of medical stock human
Inventory medical supplies or equipment.
#2059 · Core · 9% automatable
Compound, package, and label pharmaceutical products, under direction of pharmacist.
physical manipulation — Physically applying labels requires hands
Apply identification labels or tags. Package materials or products.
#20579 · Core · 55% automatable
Provide customers with information about the uses, effects, or interactions of drugs.
text generation — Health messaging drafted by AI; public delivery human
Explain technical medical information to patients. Communicate health and wellness information to the public. Provide customers with general information or assistance.
#2060 · Core · 18% automatable
Operate capsule or tablet counting machine that automatically distributes a certain number of capsules or tablets into smaller containers.
physical manipulation — Medical equipment operated hands-on on patients
Operate medical equipment.
#2062 · Core · 10% automatable
Deliver medication to treatment areas, living units, residences, or clinics, using various means of transportation.
physical manipulation — Physical transport of biological materials
Transport biological or other medical materials.
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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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