Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.

“Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.” is a core task performed by Physician Assistants. Among the occupation's 12 rated tasks, workers place it 10th by importance (#3 most important). About 100% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Analyze health or medical data. in Analyzing Data or Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T2.

How AI is actually used on this kind of task

The Anthropic Economic Index observes how people actually use AI on tasks like this one across millions of real conversations.

• 0.035% share of AI-use records mapped to this task
• 10% of that use is work-related
• Most common interaction: learning
• Average autonomy of the AI: 3.5 (1–5; higher = more autonomous)
• 78% of interactions still needed a human in the loop

Observed AI use describes people choosing to use AI as a tool on this kind of task today. It is augmentation and assistance, not a measure of jobs replaced.

Working with AI vs. handing it off

Of the AI conversations mapped to this task, the split between people working alongside AI and people delegating the task to it.

How people interact with AI on this task

Other tasks in this occupation

• Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients. · importance 4.9
• Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition. · importance 4.9
• Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination. · importance 4.9
• Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval. · importance 4.9
• Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests. · importance 4.9
• Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance. · importance 4.8
• Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management. · importance 4.5
• Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician. · importance 4.5
• Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures. · importance 4.3
• Supervise and coordinate activities of technicians and technical assistants. · importance 3.7
• Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment. · importance 3.3

See all tasks on the Physician Assistants page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-4074,
  title  = {Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-4074}
}