AI exposure: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
Feed, water, and examine pets and other nonfarm animals for signs of illness, disease, or injury in laboratories and animal hospitals and clinics. Clean and disinfect cages and work areas, and sterilize laboratory and surgical equipment. May provide routine postoperative care, administer medication orally or topically, or prepare samples for laboratory examination under the supervision of veterinary or laboratory animal technologists or technicians, veterinarians, or scientists.
Reading this score
computedAt 9.6% of weighted task load, Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers sits at the 13th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 80.1% 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 embodiment. Across this occupation's 28 tasks it averages 2.30 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Place orders to restock inventory of hospital or laboratory supplies, at 60.0%. The least is Groom, trim, or clip animals' coats, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% 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 support occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 12.0% across the group's 19 roles, with 13 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 28 tasks, 5 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 21 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 | 0.84 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.30 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 2.02 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.88 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.48 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.05 | 0-3 |
Task by task
28 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place orders to restock inventory of hospital or laboratory supplies. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Perform office reception duties, such as scheduling appointments or helping customers. | 55.4% | 32.1% | 12.5% | 4.35 | exposed |
| Record information relating to animal genealogy, feeding schedules, appearance, behavior, or breeding. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.30 | exposed |
| Write reports, maintain research information, or perform clerical duties. | 37.5% | 37.5% | 25.0% | 4.12 | assisted |
| Sell pet food or supplies to customers. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.63 | exposed |
| Perform accounting duties, such as bookkeeping, billing customers for services, or maintaining inventories. | 28.3% | 21.7% | 50.0% | 3.93 | exposed |
| Fill medication prescriptions. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 4.65 | assisted |
| Educate or advise clients on animal health care, nutrition, or behavior problems. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.19 | untouched |
| Administer anesthetics during surgery and monitor the effects on animals. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.71 | untouched |
| Monitor animals recovering from surgery and notify veterinarians of any unusual changes or symptoms. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.72 | untouched |
| Examine animals to detect behavioral changes or clinical symptoms that could indicate illness or injury. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.54 | untouched |
| Perform routine laboratory tests or diagnostic tests, such as taking or developing x-rays. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Hold or restrain animals during veterinary procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.77 | untouched |
| Clean and maintain kennels, animal holding areas, examination or operating rooms, or animal loading or unloading facilities to control the spread of disease. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.61 | untouched |
| Assist veterinarians in examining animals to determine the nature of illnesses or injuries. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Administer medication, immunizations, or blood plasma to animals as prescribed by veterinarians. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Collect laboratory specimens, such as blood, urine, or feces, for testing. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.39 | untouched |
| Clean, maintain, and sterilize instruments or equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Provide emergency first aid to sick or injured animals. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.27 | untouched |
| Prepare surgical equipment and pass instruments or materials to veterinarians during surgical procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.24 | untouched |
| Prepare examination or treatment rooms by stocking them with appropriate supplies. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Prepare feed for animals according to specific instructions, such as diet lists or schedules. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Provide assistance with euthanasia of animals or disposal of corpses. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.16 | untouched |
| Perform hygiene-related duties, such as clipping animals' claws or cleaning and polishing teeth. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Perform enemas, catheterizations, ear flushes, intravenous feedings, or gavages. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.98 | untouched |
| Exercise animals or provide them with companionship. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.87 | untouched |
| Dust, spray, or bathe animals to control insect pests. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.45 | untouched |
| Groom, trim, or clip animals' coats. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.05 | 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.