AI exposure: Speech-Language Pathologists
Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use. May perform research related to speech and language problems.
Reading this score
computedAt 21.6% of weighted task load, Speech-Language Pathologists sits at the 40th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 50.4% 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 23 tasks it averages 2.44 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 Complete administrative responsibilities, at 59.1%. The least is Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to..., at 2.9%. A gap of 56.1% 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 25 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 23 tasks, 7 are currently banded exposed, 6 assisted and 10 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. 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 | 1.90 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.87 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.67 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.14 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.04 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.44 | 0-3 |
Task by task
23 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating paperwork, scheduling case management activities, or writing lesson plans. | 59.1% | 32.6% | 8.3% | 4.31 | exposed |
| Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients. | 56.7% | 43.3% | 0.0% | 4.87 | exposed |
| Consult with and advise educators or medical staff on speech or hearing topics, such as communication strategies or speech and language stimulation. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.43 | assisted |
| Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.88 | assisted |
| Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.62 | assisted |
| Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.84 | exposed |
| Develop speech exercise programs to reduce disabilities. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Design, develop, or employ alternative diagnostic or communication devices or strategies. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.12 | exposed |
| Participate in conferences, training, continuing education courses, or publish research results to share knowledge of new hearing or speech disorder treatment methods or technologies. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.04 | exposed |
| Develop individual or group activities or programs in schools to deal with behavior, speech, language, or swallowing problems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.34 | exposed |
| Conduct or direct research on speech or hearing topics and report findings for use in developing procedures, technologies, or treatments. | 21.7% | 28.3% | 50.0% | 3.39 | assisted |
| Consult with and refer clients to additional medical or educational services. | 15.0% | 35.0% | 50.0% | 4.21 | assisted |
| Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.84 | assisted |
| Provide communication instruction to dialect speakers or students with limited English proficiency. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 4.07 | untouched |
| Use computer applications to identify or assist with communication disabilities. | 11.2% | 26.2% | 62.5% | 3.62 | untouched |
| Communicate with students who use an alternative method of communications, using sign language or computer technology. | 11.2% | 26.2% | 62.5% | 3.75 | untouched |
| Supervise or collaborate with therapy team. | 8.8% | 28.7% | 62.5% | 4.65 | untouched |
| Conduct lessons or direct educational or therapeutic games to assist teachers dealing with speech problems. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.08 | untouched |
| Supervise students or assistants. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.83 | untouched |
| Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.68 | untouched |
| Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.46 | untouched |
| Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.46 | untouched |
| Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments. | 2.9% | 9.6% | 87.5% | 4.81 | 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.