Resilient
Last Update: 6/19/2026
AI Resilience Score for Athletic Trainers:
67.8%
Median Score
Meaningful human contribution
Measures the parts of the occupation that still require a human touch. This score averages data from up to four AI exposure datasets, focusing on the role’s resilience against automation.
High
Long-term employer demand
Predicts the health of the job market for this role through 2034. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, it balances projected annual job openings (60%) with overall employment growth (40%).
Med
Sustained economic opportunity
Measures future earning potential and career flexibility. This score is a blend of total projected labor income (67%) and the role’s inherent ability to adapt to economic and technological shifts (33%).
High
This reflects the reliability of your score based on the number of data sources available for this career and how closely those sources agree on the outlook. A higher confidence means more consistent evidence from labor experts and AI models.
This result is backed by strong agreement across multiple data sources.
Contributing sources
AI Resilience Report forAthletic Trainers
$60,250 median salary•2,400 annual openings•SOC Code: 29-9091.00
Athletic Trainers are more resilient to AI impacts than most occupations, according to our analysis of 7 sources.
Athletic training is labeled "Resilient" because the heart of the job, hands-on care like taping injuries, guiding rehab exercises, and making real-time decisions on the sideline, requires human judgment, physical touch, and genuine connection with athletes that AI simply cannot replicate. Yes, AI is taking over some of the more repetitive tasks like filing insurance claims and spotting injury patterns in data, but those were never the most valuable parts of the role anyway.
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Athletic training is labeled "Resilient" because the heart of the job, hands-on care like taping injuries, guiding rehab exercises, and making real-time decisions on the sideline, requires human judgment, physical touch, and genuine connection with athletes that AI simply cannot replicate. Yes, AI is taking over some of the more repetitive tasks like filing insurance claims and spotting injury patterns in data, but those were never the most valuable parts of the role anyway.
Read full analysisAnalysis of Current AI Resilience
Athletic Trainers
Updated Quarterly
How is AI changing Athletic Trainers jobs?
Right now, AI is more often augmenting athletic trainers than replacing them. The biggest gains are showing up in the paperwork-heavy parts of the job. According to a recent National Association of Insurance Commissioners survey of 93 insurance companies in 16 states, 84% of responding insurers across health care insurance product lines use AI or machine learning to speed up claims review, which directly touches the insurance-filing task that O*NET flags as 72% automatable (KFF [1]).
On the clinical side, the National Athletic Trainers' Association now offers continuing-education programming on "Artificial Intelligence in Athletic Training" [2] as part of its 2025 essential curriculum, signaling that the profession is actively learning the tools rather than ignoring them. AI is also showing up in injury prevention and rehab: UC San Diego researchers built a generative-AI model called BIGE that generates the best motions athletes can execute during exercise to avoid injury and improve performance, or the best motions for athletes that need rehabilitation after an injury. Sports-medicine physicians describe similar uses in their own practices, noting that AI can analyze data from wearable devices, motion capture systems, and historical injury records to identify risk factors for injuries.
The hands-on tasks — massage, escorting injured athletes to hospitals, leading warm-ups — remain firmly human.
How fast is AI adoption growing for Athletic Trainers?
Adoption is moving quickly on the administrative side because the tools are commercially available, cheap, and tied to insurer cost savings. Technology companies are vying for insurers and TPAs to adopt their AI-related products with the promise of faster, more accurate claims review, which pulls trainers into AI-mediated workflows whether they want it or not. Clinical adoption, however, is slower.
Sports-medicine leaders warn that the deployment of generative AI in clinical settings must be approached with caution, with issues related to data privacy, ethical considerations, and the necessity for rigorous validation protocols. There's also a real labor-market push: the average annual salary for a university athletic trainer is $58,820, nearly $38,000 less than an occupational therapist, and burnout is driving many trainers out of school settings — which makes administrators eager for AI tools that reduce documentation load rather than cut headcount. Finally, leaders in college sports are being told to treat AI as a strategic capability, not a gadget, and to preserve the human core of athlete care.
The takeaway for students considering this career: AI will likely handle more of the typing, billing, and pattern-spotting, while your hands, eyes, and judgment courtside become more valuable, not less.
Will AI replace Athletic Trainers?
No. We don't think AI will replace Athletic Trainers, but the job will keep shifting as AI takes over more of the administrative grind.
Our scorecard gives this career a 67.8% AI Resilience Score, which puts it in stronger shape than most occupations. The reason is straightforward: the core of the job is physical, relational, and real-time. Taping an ankle, reading an athlete's pain response, making a split-second call on the sideline, none of that can be handed off to a model. The hands-on tasks stay human.
Where AI is already moving in is on the paperwork side. A large share of health insurers now use AI or machine learning to speed up claims review [1], which pulls trainers into AI-mediated billing workflows. That part of the job will keep automating. On the clinical side, the National Athletic Trainers' Association has added continuing education on AI tools to its 2025 curriculum [2], which tells you the profession is adapting rather than waiting to be disrupted.
The honest picture for students: AI will likely handle more of the documentation and pattern-spotting, while your judgment, your hands, and your presence with athletes become more valuable. That is a trade most trainers will take.
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Latest AI news for Athletic Trainers
These articles highlight the evolving role of AI in athletic training, presenting both opportunities and challenges. For instance, the ethical examination of AI coaches emphasizes the importance of privacy and bias, crucial considerations for trainers relying on technology. Additionally, the article on Northeast Ohio teams illustrates how AI is enhancing performance analytics, allowing trainers to make data-driven decisions. Embracing AI can help future athletic trainers stay relevant and innovative, fostering resilience in a rapidly changing field where technology complements, rather than replaces, human expertise.
Ethical examination of AI coaches: privacy, bias, and responsibility
www.frontiersin.org • 3/5/2026
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into sports, particularly through AI-driven coaching systems, marks a transformative advancement with the...
Northeast Ohio sports teams turn to AI for stats and athletic advantage
www.ideastream.org • 2/12/2026
On Northeast Ohio's professional and collegiate sports teams, artificial intelligence is used to shape rosters, design plays and enhance the...
University of Idaho partners with Google to offer free AI and career training
www.uidaho.edu • 10/23/2025
U of I joins Google's AI for Education Accelerator, offering students free AI tools, training and career certificates for workforce success.
Robots and artificial intelligence are transforming jobs from manufacturing to sports
www.foxbusiness.com • 7/10/2025
From factory floors to baseball fields, AI-driven robots are addressing labor shortages, enhancing sports performance with cutting-edge technology.
Prepping Athletic Training for AI
blog.utc.edu • 7/9/2024
UTC prof doesn't see AI robots replacing humans in athletic training, but he sees AI impacting research and practice management now and...
More Career Info
Career: Athletic Trainers
They help athletes stay healthy by preventing injuries, treating them when they occur, and guiding recovery to keep them performing at their best.
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Employment & Wage Data
Median Wage
$60,250
Jobs (2024)
33,900
Growth (2024-34)
+11.1%
Annual Openings
2,400
Education
Master's degree
Experience
None
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024-2034
Task-Level AI Resilience Scores
AI-generated estimates of task resilience over the next 3 years
1
Perform general administrative tasks, such as keeping records or writing reports.
2
Accompany injured athletes to hospitals.
3
Perform team support duties, such as running errands, maintaining equipment, or stocking supplies.
4
Travel with athletic teams to be available at sporting events.
5
Massage body parts to relieve soreness, strains, or bruises.
6
Care for athletic injuries, using physical therapy equipment, techniques, or medication.
7
Apply protective or injury preventive devices, such as tape, bandages, or braces, to body parts, such as ankles, fingers, or wrists.
Tasks are ranked by their AI resilience, with the most resilient tasks shown first. Core tasks are essential functions of this occupation, while supplemental tasks provide additional context.
