Nursing Assistants vs Physical Therapist Assistants
Nursing Assistants carries the higher exposed share at 11.9% against 9.3%, a gap of 2.6 points. The difference is driven by friction: the work is similarly producible in both, and what differs is what stands in the way of letting a machine finish it. Release v2026.Q3.
| Occupation | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Capability | Friction | Median pay | Rank | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursing Assistants | 11.9% | 11.3% | 76.8% | 0.23 | 0.59 | $42,260 | 759 | untouched |
| Physical Therapist Assistants | 9.3% | 15.3% | 75.4% | 0.25 | 0.68 | $68,380 | 807 | untouched |
What stands in the way, in each
Nursing Assistants: the dominant friction is that the work happens to physical things in physical places. Capability sits at 0.23 of 1 and friction at 0.59 of 1.
Physical Therapist Assistants: the dominant friction is that someone has to actually be there for it to count. Capability sits at 0.25 of 1 and friction at 0.68 of 1.
Capability asks whether a generally available system can produce the work product at all. Friction asks what stops it finishing the job: physical work, being present, being accountable, unseen context, or the cost of checking the output. The rubric is here.
Read each in full
Exposure is not displacement. A higher score does not rank two jobs by how safe they are, and nothing here models adoption, employment or pay.