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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Psychiatric Aides?
Task-level automation exposure for Psychiatric 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
25%
weighted task index
17 of 17 tasks scored
Median Salary
$44,910 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
35,520 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+1.9%
employment change
4,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 39 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$27,150 – $55,040
Highest medians
Minnesota $55,040
Washington $52,570
Hawaii $52,310
Maryland $51,440
Nevada $51,400
Lowest medians
Alabama $27,150
Louisiana $30,030
Mississippi $30,510
Arkansas $36,270
South Carolina $36,320
State figures come from the 31-1133 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 25%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 15%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 53%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 16%
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 43/100
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
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) 12%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 17%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 71%
12 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
#20578 · Core · 18% automatable
Listen and provide emotional support and encouragement to psychiatric patients.
interpersonal — Live emotional encouragement of patients is human presence
Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
#1994 · Core · 15% automatable
Provide patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities with routine physical, emotional, psychological, or rehabilitation care under the direction of nursing or medical staff.
interpersonal — Therapeutic mental health care is relational
Care for patients with mental illnesses.
#18696 · Core · 30% automatable
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
decision support — Detecting health problems requires clinical physical assessment
Monitor patients to detect health problems. Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment.
#2001 · Core · 3% automatable
Restrain or aid patients as necessary to prevent injury.
physical manipulation — Physically holding patients for positioning
Hold patients to ensure proper positioning or safety.
#1996 · Core · 42% automatable
Work as part of a team that may include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, or social workers.
interpersonal — Care planning conferral is collaborative clinical judgment
Confer with other professionals to plan patient care.
#18697 · Core · 71% automatable
Record and maintain patient information, such as vital signs, eating habits, behavior, progress notes, treatments, or discharge plans.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Record vital statistics or other health information. Maintain medical records.
#2005 · Core · 50% automatable
Maintain patients' restrictions to assigned areas.
information retrieval — Healthcare process guidance is largely informational
Follow protocols or regulations for healthcare activities. Advise patients on healthcare system processes.
#1998 · Core · 18% automatable
Organize, supervise, or encourage patient participation in social, educational, or recreational activities.
interpersonal — Live emotional encouragement of patients is human presence
Encourage patients during therapeutic activities.
#2003 · Core · 6% automatable
Provide patients with assistance in bathing, dressing, or grooming, demonstrating these skills as necessary.
physical manipulation — Hands-on patient daily activity assistance
Assist patients with daily activities.
#1997 · Core · 18% automatable
Aid patients in becoming accustomed to hospital routines.
interpersonal — Coordinating real-world daily life details with client
Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities. Assist clients in handling details of daily life.
#2000 · Core · 5% automatable
Serve meals or feed patients needing assistance or persuasion.
physical manipulation — Physically feeding a person in real space
Feed patients.
#2007 · Core · 4% automatable
Clean and disinfect rooms and furnishings to maintain a safe and orderly environment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning in patient care rooms
Clean patient rooms or patient treatment rooms.
#18698 · Core · 66% automatable
Complete administrative tasks, such as entering orders into computer, answering telephone calls, or maintaining medical or facility information.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Maintain medical records. Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#2006 · Core · 4% automatable
Accompany patients to and from wards for medical or dental treatments, shopping trips, or religious or recreational events.
situated mobility — Hands-on accompaniment and assistance in the world
Accompany patients or clients on outings to provide assistance.
#2004 · Core · 15% automatable
Participate in recreational activities with patients, including card games, sports, or television viewing.
physical manipulation — Engaging patients in exercise is physical, in-person care
Engage patients in exercises or activities.
#1999 · Supplemental · 13% automatable
Perform nursing duties, such as administering medications, measuring vital signs, collecting specimens, or drawing blood samples.
physical manipulation — Physical exam requires hands-on patient contact
Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment. Collect biological specimens from patients. Give medications or immunizations.
#2002 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Interview patients upon admission and record information.
data analysis — Vital stats entry; clinical accuracy human-owned
Interview patients to gather medical information. Record vital statistics or other health information.
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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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