Job Check
Radiation Therapists
Provide radiation therapy to patients as prescribed by a radiation oncologist according to established practices and standards. Duties may include reviewing prescription and diagnosis; acting as liaison with physician and supportive care personnel; preparing equipment, such as immobilization, treatment, and protection devices; and maintaining records, reports, and files. May assist in dosimetry procedures and tumor localization.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Position patients for treatment with accuracy, according to prescription.Mostly human for now
- 02Administer prescribed doses of radiation to specific body parts, using radiation therapy equipment according to established practices and standards.Mostly human for now
- 03Follow principles of radiation protection for patient, self, and others.Mostly human for now
- 04Review prescription, diagnosis, patient chart, and identification.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Conduct most treatment sessions independently, in accordance with the long-term treatment plan and under the general direction of the patient's physician.Mostly human for now
- 06Enter data into computer and set controls to operate or adjust equipment or regulate dosage.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 07Check radiation therapy equipment to ensure proper operation.Mostly human for now
- 08Observe and reassure patients during treatment and report unusual reactions to physician or turn equipment off if unexpected adverse reactions occur.Mostly human for now
- 09Educate, prepare, and reassure patients and their families by answering questions, providing physical assistance, and reinforcing physicians' advice regarding treatment reactions or post-treatment care.Mostly human for now
- 10Maintain records, reports, or files as required, including such information as radiation dosages, equipment settings, or patients' reactions.AI could speed this up a lot
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
28%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 26% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 71% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Position patients for treatment with accuracy, according to prescription.
- Administer prescribed doses of radiation to specific body parts, using radiation therapy equipment according to established practices and standards.
- Follow principles of radiation protection for patient, self, and others.