Community Sentiment
Do you agree?
Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?
AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Psychiatric Technicians?
Task-level automation exposure for Psychiatric Technicians: 16 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
24%
weighted task index
16 of 16 tasks scored
Median Salary
$45,130 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
156,960 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+22.3%
employment change
17,000 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.
$31,440 – $67,430
Highest medians
District of Columbia $67,430
Oregon $59,820
New York $58,080
Nebraska $57,370
Connecticut $55,500
Lowest medians
Louisiana $31,440
West Virginia $34,100
Mississippi $35,320
Arkansas $35,930
Alabama $36,680
State figures come from the 29-2053 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 24%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 13%
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 15%
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 1/100
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
16 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) 8%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 14%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 78%
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
#6945 · Core · 15% automatable
Provide nursing, psychiatric, or personal care to patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.
interpersonal — Psychological therapy requires live human therapeutic presence
Treat patients using psychological therapies. Care for patients with mental illnesses.
#6948 · Core · 20% automatable
Encourage patients to develop work skills and to participate in social, recreational, or other therapeutic activities that enhance interpersonal skills or develop social relationships.
interpersonal — Encouraging life-skill development is relational, sustained human work
Encourage patients or clients to develop life skills.
#6951 · Core · 4% automatable
Restrain violent, potentially violent, or suicidal patients by verbal or physical means as required.
physical manipulation — Physically positioning patients for exams
Position patients for treatment or examination.
#6956 · Core · 15% automatable
Lead prescribed individual or group therapy sessions as part of specific therapeutic procedures.
interpersonal — Psychological therapy requires live human therapeutic presence
Treat patients using psychological therapies.
#6944 · Core · 45% automatable
Monitor patients' physical and emotional well-being and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to medical staff.
interpersonal — Clinical handoff carries accountability and nuance
Inform medical professionals regarding patient conditions and care.
#6947 · Core · 31% automatable
Take and record measures of patients' physical condition, using devices such as thermometers or blood pressure gauges.
interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment
Examine patients to assess general physical condition. Operate diagnostic or therapeutic medical instruments or equipment. Record patient medical histories.
#6946 · Core · 15% automatable
Observe and influence patients' behavior, communicating and interacting with them and teaching, counseling, or befriending them.
interpersonal — Rapport and emotional support require live human presence
Interact with patients to build rapport or provide emotional support.
#6952 · Core · 5% automatable
Aid patients in performing tasks, such as bathing or keeping beds, clothing, or living areas clean.
physical manipulation — Hands-on hygiene and daily living care
Assist patients with hygiene or daily living activities.
#6949 · Core · 22% automatable
Collaborate with or assist doctors, psychologists, or rehabilitation therapists in working with patients with cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities to treat, rehabilitate, and return patients to the community.
interpersonal — Treatment planning collaboration is accountable clinical work
Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment. Assist healthcare practitioners during examinations or treatments. Care for patients with mental illnesses.
#6950 · Core · 42% automatable
Develop or teach strategies to promote client wellness and independence.
interpersonal — Health class content aided, facilitation human
Teach health management classes.
#20575 · Core · 30% automatable
Train or instruct new employees on procedures to follow with psychiatric patients.
interpersonal — Provider training is clinical, hands-on, accountable
Train medical providers.
#20576 · Core · 4% automatable
Escort patients to medical appointments.
physical manipulation — Moving patients requires hands-on body handling
Move patients to or from treatment areas.
#6953 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Administer oral medications or hypodermic injections, following physician's prescriptions and hospital procedures.
physical manipulation — Administering medications is hands-on clinical action
Administer non-intravenous medications. Administer intravenous medications.
#6954 · Supplemental · 71% automatable
Issue medications from dispensary and maintain records in accordance with specified procedures.
data analysis — Facility records need human verification and compliance
Maintain medical facility records. Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
#6955 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Interview new patients to complete admission forms, to assess their mental health status, or to obtain their mental health and treatment history.
interpersonal — Collecting from patients requires live clinical interaction
Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
#6957 · Supplemental · 60% automatable
Contact patients' relatives to arrange family conferences.
text generation — Clerical medical paperwork aided; compliance review human
Perform clerical work in medical settings.
Embed this calculator on your site ↓
Bloggers & authors: Embed this interactive calculator directly in your articles or comparison guides. It loads dynamically via a responsive iframe (auto-resizing to prevent double scrollbars) and provides a direct, high-value tool for your audience.
<div class="giniloh-calculator-embed" data-calculator="psychiatric-technicians"></div>
<script src="https://giniloh.com/embed.js" async></script> Method
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
See the full method →Related Article
Best AI Proof Jobs in a Changing Market
Worried robots are coming for your paycheck? You’re not alone—but the real story is far more hopeful. This guide cuts through the scare headlines to reveal exactly where smart, sustainable career opportunities exist right now. We’ve curated a list of true ai proof jobs—roles in healthcare, skilled trades, and cybersecurity that not only survive automation but thrive because of human judgment and empathy. You’ll get specific, money-making data on projected growth (the BLS says wind turbine technicians, for instance, will grow 44% by 2032), real salary ranges from active job listings, and a simple self-assessment quiz to identify your own most resilient path. Plus, we name companies hiring today and the niche job boards they use. Stop worrying and start planning—your secure career is closer than you think.
Read Article ->