US dataswitch to UK
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
observing screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for diagnostic purposes, preparing patient for exam by explaining procedure and determining whether scope of exam. If that's your week, this page is about your job.
The honest answer
AI changes the edges of this job, not the middle: observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort is work software can't reach.
What shifts is performing clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records or archiving computerized images: the overhead at the edges, not the middle you trained for.
Your week, as this page understands it
Produce ultrasonic recordings of internal organs for use by physicians. Includes vascular technologists. The job title says “diagnostic medical sonographers”. The real job is the part underneath: observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort. That is the thing someone has to be right about.
The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But diagnostic medical sonographers is not one task. It is 20 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort, and the ledger below shows exactly why.
Where the work sits, by task weight
- shifting to AI
- 10%
- changing shape
- 3%
- staying human
- 86%
These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.
Whole-job exposure score 19 out of 100 (14–24 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, across 20 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.
How we know this
What is measured: Every published task statement for diagnostic medical sonographers is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.
How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.
Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-05. Read the full method.
Your job, task by task
These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
Shifting to AI
2 tasksTasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.
Maintaining records that include patient information
This is reading one thing and writing another: records in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Maintain records that include patient information, sonographs and interpretations, files of correspondence, publications and regulations, or quality assurance records, such as pathology, biopsy, or post-operative reports.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 66 out of 100 (62–70 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Maintaining patient records, reports and quality assurance files is structured documentation software handles well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Performing clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records or archiving computerized images
This is reading one thing and writing another: clerical duties in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records, or archiving computerized images.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 75 out of 100 (71–79 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Scheduling, record-keeping and archiving images is routine office work software does well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Changing shape
1 taskTasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.
Processing and coding film from procedures and completing appropriate documentation
The software now makes the first pass at film, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 4 · SupplementalSource: “Process and code film from procedures and complete appropriate documentation.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 49 out of 100 (42–56 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Coding and completing procedure documentation is structured record work software supports well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Staying human
17 tasksTasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.
Observing screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for diagnostic purposes
This work happens in the physical world: screen during scan, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Observe screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for diagnostic purposes, making adjustments to equipment as required.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 11 out of 100 (4–18 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Image quality software is genuinely useful, but adjusting the machine mid-scan happens with the patient there.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort
This work happens in the physical world: patients throughout examinations, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Observe and care for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Looking after a patient during an examination means being in the room with them.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Selecting appropriate equipment settings and adjusting patient positions to obtain the best sites and angles
This work happens in the physical world: appropriate equipment settings, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Select appropriate equipment settings and adjust patient positions to obtain the best sites and angles.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Choosing angles by repositioning a patient is physical work at the bedside.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Operating ultrasound equipment to produce and record images of the motion
This work happens in the physical world: ultrasound equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Operate ultrasound equipment to produce and record images of the motion, shape, and composition of blood, organs, tissues, or bodily masses, such as fluid accumulations.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Operating the scanner on a patient is entirely hands-on.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Deciding which images
This work happens in the physical world: images, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Decide which images to include, looking for differences between healthy and pathological areas.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 22 out of 100 (15–29 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Software can flag unusual areas, but selecting images happens during a scan run by a qualified person.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Providing sonogram and oral or written summary of technical findings to physician for use in medical diagnosis
The rules require a named, qualified person to answer for sonogram, and that person cannot be a piece of software.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Provide sonogram and oral or written summary of technical findings to physician for use in medical diagnosis.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 36 out of 100 (29–43 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: The technical summary can be drafted from the images, though a qualified sonographer is expected to produce it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Preparing patient for exam by explaining procedure
This work happens in the physical world: patient, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Prepare patient for exam by explaining procedure, transferring patient to ultrasound table, scrubbing skin and applying gel, and positioning patient properly.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Preparing a patient involves moving them, applying gel and positioning them physically.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Show the other 10 tasks
Maintaining stock and supplies, preparing supplies for special examinations and ordering supplies
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: stock, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Maintain stock and supplies, preparing supplies for special examinations and ordering supplies when necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 29 out of 100 (22–36 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Ordering supplies is straightforward admin, but checking and preparing stock happens in the department.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Obtaining and recording accurate patient history
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: accurate patient history, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Obtain and record accurate patient history, including prior test results or information from physical examinations.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 21 out of 100 (14–28 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: History can be pulled from records, but confirming it usually happens face to face with the patient.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Determining whether scope of exam
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: whether scope of exam, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Determine whether scope of exam should be extended, based on findings.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 19 out of 100 (12–26 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Extending a scan is a clinical call made in the moment by the qualified person doing it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Performing legal and ethical duties
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: legal, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform legal and ethical duties, including preparing safety or accident reports, obtaining written consent from patient to perform invasive procedures, or reporting symptoms of abuse or neglect.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 18 out of 100 (11–25 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; someone qualified has to answer for it.
The rating behind it: Reports can be drafted, but taking consent and acting on safeguarding concerns needs the qualified person present.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 2/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Recording and storing suitable images
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: suitable images, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 5 · CoreSource: “Record and store suitable images, using camera unit connected to the ultrasound equipment.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Capturing and storing images happens at the scanner during the examination.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Cleaning, checking and maintaining sonographic equipment, submitting maintenance requests or performing minor repairs
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: sonographic equipment, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Clean, check, and maintain sonographic equipment, submitting maintenance requests or performing minor repairs as necessary.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 8 out of 100 (1–15 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Cleaning and checking equipment is hands-on, even though the maintenance request itself is paperwork.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Supervising or training students or other medical sonographers
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: students, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Supervise or train students or other medical sonographers.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 5 out of 100 (0–12 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Teaching scanning is done by standing beside a trainee at the machine.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 1/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Coordinating work with physicians or other healthcare team members
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: work, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Coordinate work with physicians or other healthcare team members, including providing assistance during invasive procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Assisting during invasive procedures means being at the table.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Performing medical procedures, such as administering oxygen, inserting and removing airways
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: medical procedures, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 4 · CoreSource: “Perform medical procedures, such as administering oxygen, inserting and removing airways, taking vital signs, or giving emergency treatment, such as first aid or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Giving oxygen, taking vital signs or performing CPR is direct physical care.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Loading and unloading film cassettes used to record images from procedures
staying humanThis work happens in the physical world: film cassettes, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 3 · SupplementalSource: “Load and unload film cassettes used to record images from procedures.” (O*NET task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Loading and unloading cassettes is a physical task at the machine.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
What this job pays, and how many people do it
- Median pay
- $96,590a year, the middle of the range, so half earn more and half earn less.bls-oews, 2025 · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
How we know this
Source: bls-oews
Reference period: May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
Rounding: Shown as published.
- People doing this job
- 90,160in the US, 2025.bls-oews · May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx)
What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.
Why this is shifting
The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: clerical duties in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: performing clerical duties and maintaining records that include patient information. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where patients throughout examinations get done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.
Your move
Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend
Start with what does not change: observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort is the middle of this job, and the evidence on this page says it stays with a person.
So, given all that: 10% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 3% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 86% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 20 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.
So the thing worth your attention is not the job going away. It is the layer around it. Performing clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records or archiving computerized images is the part turning into software, and being the person who understands that layer is worth money.
This week: one thing
Ask the one question. Find whoever is bringing new software into your workplace (the manager, the office, whoever runs the system) and ask them what it is meant to do to clerical duties, and what it is not meant to touch. Ten minutes, this week, before anyone decides it for you.
- What you end up holding
- a straight answer about what is actually being rolled out, and when
- How long it takes
- ten minutes
If there’s nobody obvious to ask, or you’d rather not ask your manager: Put the same question to your union rep, your shift lead or the person who has been there longest, in person, over a break. Same ten minutes, same answer, and you will usually get a straighter one. Write down what they say. The note is the artifact, and it tells you whether patients throughout examinations are in scope or not. Nothing to log into, no license needed.
Over the next 90 days
Get inside the tool rollout rather than waiting for it. Over the next ninety days, ask to be in the group that tests, checks or signs off whatever new system arrives near processing and coding film from procedures and completing appropriate documentation. It is usually an unglamorous seat that nobody fights for, and it is the one that decides how the software is used on your job rather than to it.
Over the next 12 months
On this evidence I would not retrain out of this job, and I will say that plainly rather than hedge it. The task list here is dominated by work that stays with a person. What I would do with a year is get formally recognised for the layer around it (the systems, the compliance, the planning), so you are the one who understands the software instead of the one it is done to. Before you pay for anything, use CareerOneStop - Find local training. It is free, it is the Labor Department's own service, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.
The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them
I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.
I checked the 12 nearest US occupations to diagnostic medical sonographers (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was cardiologists: only about 5% of its durable work is work you already do, the 5.1× pay gap is the market pricing a barrier and there are far fewer of those jobs than of yours. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 19/100 here, with only 10% of the task list in the top band, and “observe screen during scan to ensure that image produced is satisfactory for…” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.
How that was checked: this job was compared against all 830 US occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.
3 moves I checked and rejected
These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.
Cardiologists
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already obtain and record accurate patient history, and their equivalent is to obtain and record patient information. Across both published task lists that is about 5% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 5% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. The pay gap is the market pricing a barrier: $496,010 against your $96,590 is 5.13× (OEWS May 2025 (both)), and you would be crossing it holding about 5% of their durable work. A gap that size with an overlap that small is a wish, not a route. And it is a narrow door: about 17,290 of those jobs against 90,160 of yours (OEWS May 2025), 19% as many seats.
Radiologic Technologists and Technicians
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already observe and care for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort, and their equivalent is to explain procedures and observe patients to ensure safety and comfort during scan. Across both published task lists that is about 5% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 5% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. It is a pay cut, in those words: $80,110 against your $96,590, 17.1% less (OEWS May 2025 (both)). Retraining to earn less is a decision, not advice.
Emergency Medicine Physicians
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour on the work AI is not taking: you already obtain and record accurate patient history, and their equivalent is to collect and record patient information. Across both published task lists that is about 5% of the durable work in that job.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 5% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. The pay gap is the market pricing a barrier: $335,550 against your $96,590 is 3.47× (OEWS May 2025 (both)), and you would be crossing it holding about 5% of their durable work. A gap that size with an overlap that small is a wish, not a route.
What I’d stop worrying about
A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.
The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 10% of its task weight, across 20 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The headlines about your trade disappearing
They are usually about the technology, not the timetable. Changes to work like observing and caring for patients throughout examinations to ensure their safety and comfort arrive through rules, insurance and money, slowly and visibly. This page tracks the task evidence and will move when it moves.
Retraining out of a job that is holding up
On this evidence I would not spend money leaving. Spend it on the layer around the job instead: the tools, the paperwork, the planning. That is where the change actually is.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.
You are reading the United States figures
The United Kingdom splits this work across more than one official group, of which Medical radiographers is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.
Switch to the United Kingdom page →partial match
In UK official statistics this job is counted as Medical radiographers. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.
Your route through this
Where to go next, and what it costs
Free, and complete
The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Find local training
Search what's running near you, from the Labor Department's own database, before anyone sells you a course.
Free to search; individual programs vary, and some are funded
Anywhere in the US:
An American Job Center will sit down with you for free. Find yours by ZIP code.
Free
Anywhere in the US:
CareerOneStop - Licensed occupations finder
Check what your state actually requires before you pay for anything.
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Anywhere in the US:
Free
No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it
Nothing Collab365 runs is built for diagnostic medical sonographers, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.
There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 10% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.
7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.
The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for diagnostic medical sonographers. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.
Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for diagnostic medical sonographers launches. Nothing else.
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No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.
Questions people ask about this job
- Will AI replace Diagnostic Medical Sonographers?
- Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 20 official task statements scored for Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (United States, SOC 29-2032), 10% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 19 out of 100 (range 14–24, band: minimal). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
- Which tasks in “Diagnostic Medical Sonographers” can AI already do?
- The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Perform clerical duties, such as scheduling exams or special procedures, keeping records, or archiving computerized images” (75/100, high); “Maintain records that include patient information, sonographs and interpretations, files of correspondence, publications and regulations, or quality assuranc…” (66/100, high); “Process and code film from procedures and complete appropriate documentation” (49/100, partial). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
- Which tasks in “Diagnostic Medical Sonographers” stay human?
- About 86% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Load and unload film cassettes used to record images from procedures” (0/100, minimal); “Perform medical procedures, such as administering oxygen, inserting and removing airways, taking vital signs, or giving emergency treatment, such as first ai…” (0/100, minimal); “Coordinate work with physicians or other healthcare team members, including providing assistance during invasive procedures” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
- What should someone working in “Diagnostic Medical Sonographers” do about AI?
- Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 10% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 86% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
- How is the AI exposure score for Diagnostic Medical Sonographers calculated?
- Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 20 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.
Where these numbers come from
Worth knowing about these figures
- The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
- 1 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
- Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.
- Task statements
- onet-dbProcessing: catalogue-bridge → onet-im-rt-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
- Task weights
- onet-db (im-rt)
- Scores
- Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
- Pay and employment
- bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))bls-oews (May 2025 estimates (national_M2025_dl.xlsx))
Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.
The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.
The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.
Using these figures?
Cite this
Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.
Plain text
Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).
BibTeX
@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
title = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
author = {{Collab365}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
note = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published . Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.