AI exposure: Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
Produce ultrasonic recordings of internal organs for use by physicians. Includes vascular technologists.
Reading this score
computedAt 22.9% of weighted task load, Diagnostic Medical Sonographers sits at the 42th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 52.3% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 19 tasks it averages 2.26 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Perform clerical duties, at 57.0%. The least is Perform medical procedures, at 0.0%. A gap of 57.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 89 roles in the group is 18.4%, and only 18 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 19 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 11 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.94 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.53 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.53 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.25 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.48 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.26 | 0-3 |
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records, or archiving computerized images. | 57.0% | 34.6% | 8.3% | 4.58 | exposed |
| Obtain and record accurate patient history, including prior test results or information from physical examinations. | 56.7% | 43.3% | 0.0% | 4.80 | exposed |
| Maintain records that include patient information, sonographs and interpretations, files of correspondence, publications and regulations, or quality assurance records, such as pathology, biopsy, or post-operative reports. | 53.3% | 46.7% | 0.0% | 4.74 | exposed |
| Provide sonogram and oral or written summary of technical findings to physician for use in medical diagnosis. | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | 4.92 | assisted |
| Perform legal and ethical duties, including preparing safety or accident reports, obtaining written consent from patient to perform invasive procedures, or reporting symptoms of abuse or neglect. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.09 | exposed |
| Determine whether scope of exam should be extended, based on findings. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.85 | exposed |
| Process and code film from procedures and complete appropriate documentation. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.98 | exposed |
| Maintain stock and supplies, preparing supplies for special examinations and ordering supplies when necessary. | 25.9% | 15.7% | 58.3% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Decide which images to include, looking for differences between healthy and pathological areas. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.93 | assisted |
| Observe screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for diagnostic purposes, making adjustments to equipment as required. | 13.8% | 23.8% | 62.5% | 4.94 | untouched |
| Record and store suitable images, using camera unit connected to the ultrasound equipment. | 13.8% | 23.8% | 62.5% | 4.61 | untouched |
| Operate ultrasound equipment to produce and record images of the motion, shape, and composition of blood, organs, tissues, or bodily masses, such as fluid accumulations. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.93 | untouched |
| Prepare patient for exam by explaining procedure, transferring patient to ultrasound table, scrubbing skin and applying gel, and positioning patient properly. | 5.2% | 11.5% | 83.3% | 4.80 | untouched |
| Supervise or train students or other medical sonographers. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.51 | untouched |
| Select appropriate equipment settings and adjust patient positions to obtain the best sites and angles. | 4.6% | 7.9% | 87.5% | 4.92 | untouched |
| Coordinate work with physicians or other healthcare team members, including providing assistance during invasive procedures. | 4.2% | 20.8% | 75.0% | 4.80 | untouched |
| Observe and care for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.92 | untouched |
| Clean, check, and maintain sonographic equipment, submitting maintenance requests or performing minor repairs as necessary. | 3.0% | 5.4% | 91.7% | 4.55 | untouched |
| Perform medical procedures, such as administering oxygen, inserting and removing airways, taking vital signs, or giving emergency treatment, such as first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.