Veterinarians

Minimal Risk
14%
Where Would You Like to Go Next?
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Vote Comments (49)
Or, Explore This Profession in Greater Detail...
AUTOMATION RISK
CALCULATED
7%
(Minimal Risk)
POLLING
20%
(Low Risk)
Average: 14%
LABOR DEMAND
GROWTH
19.1%
by year 2033
WAGES
$119,100
or $57.25 per hour
Volume
78,220
as of 2023
SUMMARY
JOB SCORE
8.8/10

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Calculated automation risk

7% (Minimal Risk)

Minimal Risk (0-20%): Occupations in this category have a low probability of being automated, as they typically demand complex problem-solving, creativity, strong interpersonal skills, and a high degree of manual dexterity. These jobs often involve intricate hand movements and precise coordination, making it difficult for machines to replicate the required tasks.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Some quite important qualities of the job are difficult to automate:

  • Assisting and Caring for Others

  • Social Perceptiveness

  • Finger Dexterity

  • Manual Dexterity

  • Originality

User poll

20% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 7% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Veterinarians will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?






Sentiment

The following graph is included wherever there is a substantial amount of votes to render meaningful data. These visual representations display user poll results over time, providing a significant indication of sentiment trends.

Sentiment over time (quarterly)

Sentiment over time (yearly)

Growth

Very fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Veterinarians' job openings is expected to rise 19.1% by 2033

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2021 and 2031
Updated projections are due 09-2024.

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2023, the median annual wage for 'Veterinarians' was $119,100, or $57 per hour

'Veterinarians' were paid 147.8% higher than the national median wage, which stood at $48,060

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Volume

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2023 there were 78,220 people employed as 'Veterinarians' within the United States.

This represents around 0.05% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Veterinarians'.

Job description

Diagnose, treat, or research diseases and injuries of animals. Includes veterinarians who conduct research and development, inspect livestock, or care for pets and companion animals.

SOC Code: 29-1131.00

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Comments

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User (No chance) 3 months ago
There is a risk of the robot getting it wrong and the pet dies
0 0 Reply
kylie 5 months ago
the robots won't be able to tell if they made a mistake and fix it before something worse happens
0 0 Reply
zoe (No chance) 5 months ago
i don't think a robot will be able to handle the emotional part of the job dealing with the owners
1 0 Reply
A young veterinarian 6 months ago
We had evolution for millions of years. We domesticated most of the species of the world. Animals, for the most part, know how to respond to humans. They do not know how to respond to a non-living and non-human thing. We can use this to benefit us clearly, to help with the resolution of image exams and bloodwork tests, and to lessen the failure rate of quick diagnostic tests like ELISA and PCR. That's the purpose of AI. Without humans, the animals won't be safe in their visits. But alas - WHO WILL FEED THE AI? If vets don't exist anymore, we won't have research fields; we won't have any new information.

In conclusion, STOP BEING LAZY! STUDY, WORK, and use AI to help in minimal cases, not in every aspect of your life.
0 0 Reply
Kat (Moderate) 6 months ago
Robots are taking over most jobs in the medical industry. It would make sense to believe that robots would take over this job as well.
0 0 Reply
yes, obviously lol (Highly likely) 9 months ago
People who say no are so funny.

First of all, AI is already better at diagnosing diseases than humans. I'm not saying entering symptoms and getting results; AI can diagnose diseases from MRI images. And yes, so far no radiologist could beat AI. So, the diagnosing part will be fully automated. Not only that, but this will reduce the need for veterinarians quite a lot. You need a lot of vets to work in a hospital or in a clinic because their knowledge is needed. But thanks to AI, information is much faster and better from now on. So, a big hospital can work with 2-3 vets only. We shouldn't think this from vets' side; the owners can use AI to diagnose their animals with more than 99% correct diagnosis.

Now... what if the animal needs surgery? Or it is scared? Or it requires labor? This doesn't change anything. We have robots that can do surgeries better than humans already. I'm sure everybody watched that grape video or the video in which a doctor uses robots to fold a paper. Do you know how more difficult this is compared to doing, let's say, spaying a cat? Not difficult at all! That robot could do it with its eyes closed. Ok, but AI cannot replace human relationships. What if the animal is scared or it's angry? The robots are metallic. So even the angriest animal cannot do anything to the AI. Again, AI is better. Another major problem is thinking AI cannot replace human touch. We already have AI that you couldn't even differentiate from humans. Not only this, but we DON'T need to replace the human touch. Do you think animals love human vets? Not at all! But if we switch to robots, everything will be much quicker and better for everyone. This will cause less anxiety to the animal as well.

Let me get this straight. Even TODAY, AI can perform surgeries, AI can chat as if it's a human, AI can know more and learn faster than all people combined in the world. Tell me a single reason why AI wouldn't replace all the vets?

Now... of course there are some arguments. 1) Humans would prefer human vets. Nope! AI will do everything better, faster, and cheaper. Humans make mistakes. Actually, there's a survey (you can look it up) asking people if they would allow AI to do certain things. More than 50% of people said they would allow performing a surgery that is fully automated by an AI on themselves! Now imagine if it were their pets. The number would be over 80%. Do you know why the younger generation trusts AI more and more? Because we know the past. Back then the planes were quite bad. And with the help of the technology, we only need 2 pilots now and guess what? Almost ALL plane accidents happen today because of human error. That's why major companies like Boeing are working on fully automated planes (or 1 pilot at best). Even if the outside is invisible, the sensors can help the plane to not crash, but the human pilot would get us unalived.

2) It would take so long to legalize it. That's a valid argument. But please remember that this HAS ALREADY STARTED. Right now in the USA, we have stethoscopes that can listen to your heart, show its ECG and on the top of all of these, it can even analyze the ECG with AI. They are experimenting how it is going and all doctors love it! That's why it will replace vets so quickly. Another thing is people love anything cheaper. They will want to pay AI than to pay 30 vets. And all vets will be jobless in a few years. AI is not only getting better, faster every SECOND but it's also becoming more and more accessible and accepted by the humans. 3) I'm the best at being a vet, no AI can replace me. LOL!!!!!!!! Just read everything I said earlier. I dare you to take an exam with an AI and let's see who will get higher marks. (Not ChatGPT, I don't understand when I say this people immediately think of ChatGPT. There are medical AI.) Spoiler: They did this with human doctors, only 2 doctors could beat AI out of 50 doctors.

Please don't be sad. ALL jobs will be fully automated; it's just a matter of time. This is for our own good. Don't you want your pet to be treated better, faster, and cheaper? What if a human vet makes a mistake in the surgery and gets your pet unalived? What if you bring your parrot to an emergency vet and he says "I don't know about parrots, sorry"? It sucks! With AI, all these vets are gonna get replaced. You will bring your parrot to the AI, and it will diagnose and treat your parrot in MINUTES!

I don't think ALL vets are gonna get replaced, but I'm pretty sure more than 95% will lose their jobs and this is for everyone's good.

-From a vet who is studying AI for hobby
1 4 Reply
A vet from Brazil 6 months ago
Never in the world I would leave my pet to be treated with IA, even more by a vet who agrees with the use of IA - Yes, they have a lot of knowledge, but if we are replaced who will feed the machine with new information? And how can we study and discover new things if we don't do the clinics? Medicine of any kind will never be replaced, we can use help, yes but I highly doubt that IA can diagnose tumors and diseases like FIP, diseases that need a very complex and human thinking to be diagnosed.
1 1 Reply
Anon (Uncertain) 9 months ago
Resent development in the realm of AI and robotics such as figure 01 suggest that the need for physical labor in veterinary jobs won't be a moat against automation much longer .
Legislation and client preferes for human veterinarians might still provide some level of job security and slow down the rate of replacement but are unlikely to reverse or stop the trend.
0 0 Reply
Pashience (Low) 10 months ago
AI can’t replace a humans emotions, compassion and intricate movements required to be a vet. People would rather have a compassionate, experienced and determined veterinarian to take care of their animal. AI doesn’t have the instincts and the touch a trained vet does.
0 0 Reply
yes (Highly likely) 1 year ago
Robots possess two primary capabilities: the ability to retrieve information and to execute precise movements. In the field, these capacities are paramount. Should one encounter an aggressive cat, there is no issue; metal remains impervious to harm. Lacking knowledge about reptiles? This is inconsequential, as artificial intelligence surpasses human comprehension in this domain. Uncertain about a diagnosis? The AI can ascertain the issue within minutes.

Thus, one should prepare for the impending era of complete automation.
0 0 Reply
Olivia (No chance) 1 year ago
Robots can't replace humans, Robots will be too stressful for the animals, they need human contact, calming voices and care no matter what
0 0 Reply
Shaan patel (Low) 1 year ago
Because treating animals wasn't ever first priority for humans as animals were never dependent on human and as behaviour and physiology of animals is more complex than human so for that purpose AI needs


a lot of development and precision compared to nowadays and animals economic importance is less than human so firstly we need to digitalize medical field as whole for human then will be chance for animals medical field digitalisation
0 0 Reply
Who am I? 1 year ago
Robots can also have malfunctions.
0 0 Reply
Reality Bites 1 year ago
It's not so simple as AI replacing vets or not. I can't think of any profession that will be completely replaced but all will experience significant fallout irrespective of robotic advancements.

With AI, an animal hospital owner can employ fewer vets who do the same (probably more) in less time which means less vet jobs. They won't just hire more vets as the money saved will be offset in part by the business adaptations required such as AI tech costs and change in competitive environment created by AI. Also, for the same owner to employ the same number of vets or more vets, there would have to be justifiable demand for vet services. AI is projected to create higher underemployment and even unemployment which is why they're talking about a very basic universal income and reducing or phasing out social security. People don't choose to go to the vet if they don't have the money. The GDP is slated to grow but so is the wealth divide meaning fewer customers. The lucky vets will have those few rich customers willing to spend a lot and they will only go to the best vets who really care about animals.

Most vet services are diagnostic. AI will create better home diagnostic tools and remote diagnostic competitors which is tied in to my first point about costs for business adaptations. AI is also advancing to the point where it is creating new and better AI capable of developing solutions that humans would never be capable of. This means advancements in the fields of robotics and life sciences that we have never known before. It's only a relatively small matter of time before AI is capable of creating robots capable of performing surgery or more realistically AI will streamline the diagnostic process and even heal complex issues. The assumption most are making is that it is all about robotic surgery which does not take into account more effective minimally invasive medical procedures that are the better choice, but aren't chosen because they're still being developed such as the use of nanites, chemical and other therapies. AI is about to create smarter AI that will solve these problems. So vets will be impacted as they will be fighting for a smaller pool amongst a larger group and in a new business environment. Conclusion, I wouldn't think vets are safe in the least and these changes are coming in this generation. You can't compare the speed of development of the AI Age to the Industrial or Information Age. AI is leagues ahead in terms of speed and analytical capability. Conclusion. Be a vet only if you truly want to be one and you have the skill to be the best.
1 0 Reply
J (Low) 1 year ago
AI cannot fully replace a vet, as opposed to human medicine where there's a huge chance of that happening. This isn't the case in veterinary medicine because dealing with animals requires lots of tricks. While humans may be cooperative with robots, it's hardly the case with animals. Animals can undoubtedly sense auras and will most likely treat a robot as an object, not as their vet.

You might think all the tricks will be incorporated into the AI program. This could be the case, but each animal responds according to its character to certain tricks. There is no general rule in dealing with animals, and that is what might make the AI career in veterinary medicine lacking.

Moreover, veterinary medicine is progressing at a high rate, and what we already know is only a small proportion of what this career can still offer in the future. A robot can operate, but can it discover? If it really can, then all careers are doomed, not just veterinary medicine.
0 0 Reply
sd 1 year ago
Not possible.

Human doctors could possibly be partially replaced in the consultation department, but not veterinarians. A robot does not know how to hold or handle a cat. They do not know how to ethically handle a panicking cat without injuring them.
0 0 Reply
Foreign trained vet 2 years ago
AI is more than welcome in our field if it can make diagnostics faster. However, it can't replace the human touch unless it develops some unforeseen abilities which are yet to be invented. Till then, vets are all we got.
0 0 Reply
Ark (Low) 3 years ago
There would need to be significant advancements in robotics to completely automate this job. Now, I CAN see the number of jobs decreasing dramatically if remote surgery becomes possible. One vet could do the work of 10.
0 0 Reply
Destiny (No chance) 3 years ago
I wanna be a veterinarian. However smart robots will be doesn't mean that they would know how to do surgery, how old a stray dog is, probably won't know how much to feed each one, and they can't bathe them because they're robots so I don't think there is a chance of that happening.
0 0 Reply
No 1 year ago
Unfortunately, you might not think clearly if you're fixated on becoming a vet. Firstly, advanced robots excel in two main areas: They can access all the information on the internet that a human could never assimilate in a lifetime. Secondly, they have the capability to move with precision thanks to robotics. These are the two primary requirements in the veterinary field.

Moving on. When you mention determining the age of a stray dog, you don't necessarily need to know their exact age to provide treatment or make certain diagnoses. As for your comment about "probably not knowing how much to feed each one," AI and robotics are astonishingly accurate in this aspect. They'll likely always have more data and accuracy than we do. And the notion that "they can't bathe them because they are robots"? Well, we've had waterproof robots for quite some time now.

So, yes, it seems full automation is on the horizon!
1 0 Reply
Millie Pug (No chance) 3 years ago
I want to be a Vet when I'm older and if robots can't open door nobs then can we really trust they won't accidentally cut the animal?
0 0 Reply
Jay Mengi (No chance) 4 years ago
Veterinary nurses will be a thing and take over vaccination and other basic tasks. Vets would be doing more specialized appointments/surgery.
0 0 Reply

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