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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Veterinarians?
Task-level automation exposure for Veterinarians: 21 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
32%
weighted task index
21 of 21 tasks scored
Median Salary
$130,100 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
83,900 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+9.4%
employment change
3,100 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$88,650 – $163,920
Highest medians
California $163,920
Maryland $163,170
Washington $160,510
New Jersey $160,140
Arizona $152,020
Lowest medians
South Dakota $88,650
Puerto Rico $89,810
Wyoming $97,240
Oklahoma $98,090
Montana $99,390
State figures come from the 29-1131 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 32%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 12%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 72%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 5%
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 58/100
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
21 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) 18%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 33%
8 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 49%
9 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
#4107 · Core · 12% automatable
Treat sick or injured animals by prescribing medication, setting bones, dressing wounds, or performing surgery.
decision support — Prescribing medications is licensed high-stakes judgment
Treat acute illnesses, infections, or injuries. Operate on patients to treat conditions. Prescribe medications.
#4108 · Core · 4% automatable
Inoculate animals against various diseases, such as rabies or distemper.
physical manipulation — Immunization requires hands-on injection
Immunize patients.
#4106 · Core · 12% automatable
Examine animals to detect and determine the nature of diseases or injuries.
visual inspection — Patient physical assessment is hands-on clinical work
Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
#4109 · Core · 5% automatable
Collect body tissue, feces, blood, urine, or other body fluids for examination and analysis.
physical manipulation — Invasive specimen collection needs hands-on clinical skill
Collect biological specimens from patients.
#4110 · Core · 39% automatable
Operate diagnostic equipment, such as radiographic or ultrasound equipment, and interpret the resulting images.
visual inspection — Image interpretation assists; radiologist owns diagnosis
Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment. Operate diagnostic imaging equipment.
#4112 · Core · 62% automatable
Educate the public about diseases that can be spread from animals to humans.
text generation — Health messaging drafted by AI; public delivery human
Communicate health and wellness information to the public.
#20412 · Core · 30% automatable
Counsel clients about the deaths of their pets or about euthanasia decisions for their pets.
interpersonal — Family counseling needs live emotional presence
Counsel family members of clients or patients.
#18532 · Core · 55% automatable
Advise animal owners regarding sanitary measures, feeding, general care, medical conditions, or treatment options.
decision support — Wellness advice needs tailoring and clinical accountability
Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
#4115 · Core · 5% automatable
Euthanize animals.
physical manipulation — Veterinary hands-on treatment of animals
Treat animal injuries or illnesses.
#18533 · Core · 75% automatable
Attend lectures, conferences, or continuing education courses.
information retrieval — AI summarizes medical updates; human retains judgment
Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
#4113 · Core · 29% automatable
Train or supervise workers who handle or care for animals.
interpersonal — Provider training is clinical, hands-on, accountable
Train medical providers. Supervise medical support personnel.
#18534 · Core · 65% automatable
Perform administrative or business management tasks, such as scheduling appointments, accepting payments from clients, budgeting, or maintaining business records.
data analysis — Facility records need human verification and compliance
Schedule patient procedures or appointments. Maintain medical facility records. Perform clerical work in medical settings.
#4123 · Core · 38% automatable
Plan or execute animal nutrition or reproduction programs.
decision support — Medical plans need exam, liability, and clinical judgment
Develop medical treatment plans.
#4117 · Core · 45% automatable
Conduct postmortem studies and analyses to determine the causes of animals' deaths.
decision support — Cause of death requires medical-legal accountability
Analyze medical data to determine cause of death.
#4121 · Supplemental · 73% automatable
Specialize in a particular type of treatment, such as dentistry, pathology, nutrition, surgery, microbiology, or internal medicine.
information retrieval — AI summarizes medical updates; human retains judgment
Maintain medical or professional knowledge. Maintain professional knowledge or certifications.
#4119 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Direct the overall operations of animal hospitals, clinics, or mobile services to farms.
interpersonal — Healthcare operations accountability and staffing are human
Manage healthcare operations.
#4122 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Inspect and test horses, sheep, poultry, or other animals to detect the presence of communicable diseases.
visual inspection — Patient physical assessment is hands-on clinical work
Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
#4116 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Establish or conduct quarantine or testing procedures that prevent the spread of diseases to other animals or to humans and that comply with applicable government regulations.
decision support — Protocols need clinical accountability and context
Determine protocols for medical procedures.
#4124 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Research diseases to which animals could be susceptible.
information retrieval — Literature review aided; wet-lab and clinical research human
Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
#4114 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Provide care to a wide range of animals or specialize in a particular species, such as horses or exotic birds.
physical manipulation — Providing animal care is hands-on physical work
Provide care for animals.
#4126 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Determine the effects of drug therapies, antibiotics, or new surgical techniques by testing them on animals.
information retrieval — Literature review aided; wet-lab and clinical research human
Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
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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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