Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Speech-Language Pathology Assistants?
Task-level automation exposure for Speech-Language Pathology Assistants: 11 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
45%
weighted task index
11 of 11 tasks scored
Median Salary
$48,430 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
109,740 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+4.8%
employment change
14,100 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$26,660 – $73,590
Highest medians
District of Columbia $73,590
Washington $62,040
Alaska $61,300
Massachusetts $58,340
Delaware $57,760
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $26,660
Louisiana $34,040
Mississippi $34,900
Alabama $36,760
Arkansas $38,040
State figures come from the 31-9099 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 45%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 11%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 40%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 43%
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 14/100
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
11 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) 32%
3 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 26%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 42%
5 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
#17535 · Core · 72% automatable
Document clients' progress toward meeting established treatment objectives.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Maintain medical records.
#17532 · Core · 20% automatable
Implement treatment plans or protocols as directed by speech-language pathologists.
interpersonal — Implementing therapy programs is hands-on clinical work
Implement therapeutic programs to improve patient functioning.
#17534 · Core · 70% automatable
Collect and compile data to document clients' performance or assess program quality.
text generation — Draft medical reports from structured findings
Prepare medical reports or documents.
#17539 · Core · 49% automatable
Perform support duties, such as preparing materials, keeping records, maintaining supplies, and scheduling activities.
data analysis — Maintain records; human owns clinical accuracy
Prepare medical instruments or equipment for use. Maintain medical records. Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#17533 · Core · 20% automatable
Assist speech-language pathologists in the remediation or development of speech and language skills.
interpersonal — Implementing therapy programs is hands-on clinical work
Implement therapeutic programs to improve patient functioning.
#17541 · Core · 42% automatable
Select or prepare speech-language instructional materials.
decision support — Clinical therapy design needs licensed judgment and patient context
Develop patient therapy programs.
#17531 · Core · 30% automatable
Assist speech-language pathologists in the conduct of client screenings or assessments of language, voice, fluency, articulation, or hearing.
interpersonal — Administering screening tests needs live patient interaction
Administer screening tests to determine abilities or treatment needs.
#17540 · Core · 70% automatable
Prepare charts, graphs, or other visual displays to communicate clients' performance information.
text generation — Draft medical reports from structured findings
Prepare medical reports or documents.
#17536 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Test or maintain equipment to ensure correct performance.
visual inspection — Medical equipment monitoring needs physical presence
Monitor medical equipment to ensure proper functioning.
#17538 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Conduct in-service training sessions, or family and community education programs.
interpersonal — Medical procedure teaching is hands-on clinical instruction
Teach medical procedures to healthcare personnel.
#17537 · Supplemental · 47% automatable
Assist speech-language pathologists in the conduct of speech-language research projects.
decision support — AI assists analysis; hands-on research human
Collaborate on research activities with scientists or technical specialists. Assist engineers or scientists with research.
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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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