Speech and language therapists
Speech and language therapists are responsible for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of speech, language, fluency and voice disorders caused by disability, injury or illness.
- Employees (UK)
- 17k
- Median annual pay
- £35,002
- Exposure score ?
- 1.6/10 Minimal 7.4/10 High strict reading, with tools is 7.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.6/10
- Wage exposure
- £95m £440m
Higher exposure than 72% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of the routine work in this role can already be done by a capable model. The role does not disappear, but its shape changes, and one person can credibly cover the work of several.
If you are in this role
Stop spending time on what a model can do well. Your value is judgement, relationships and the parts of the work that need you in the room. Redesign the workflow around that before someone else does it for you.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
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Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.
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Complete administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating paperwork, scheduling case management activities, or writing lesson plans.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
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Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
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Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Speech-Language Pathologists" (29-1127.00).
What AI can already do
4 of 23 tasks, unaided
Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.
Complete administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating paperwork, scheduling case management activities, or writing lesson plans.
Provide communication instruction to dialect speakers or students with limited English proficiency.
What still needs a person
19 of 23 tasks
Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers.
Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments.
Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms.
Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement.
Consult with and advise educators or medical staff on speech or hearing topics, such as communication strategies or speech and language stimulation.
Develop speech exercise programs to reduce disabilities.
Develop individual or group activities or programs in schools to deal with behavior, speech, language, or swallowing problems.
Consult with and refer clients to additional medical or educational services.
Design, develop, or employ alternative diagnostic or communication devices or strategies.
Conduct lessons or direct educational or therapeutic games to assist teachers dealing with speech problems.
Participate in conferences, training, continuing education courses, or publish research results to share knowledge of new hearing or speech disorder treatment methods or technologies.
Supervise students or assistants.
Communicate with students who use an alternative method of communications, using sign language or computer technology.
Use computer applications to identify or assist with communication disabilities.
Conduct or direct research on speech or hearing topics and report findings for use in developing procedures, technologies, or treatments.
Tasks via O*NET "Speech-Language Pathologists" (29-1127.00).
What AI can already do
17 of 23 tasks, with tools
Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers.
Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.
Consult with and advise educators or medical staff on speech or hearing topics, such as communication strategies or speech and language stimulation.
Develop speech exercise programs to reduce disabilities.
Develop individual or group activities or programs in schools to deal with behavior, speech, language, or swallowing problems.
Complete administrative responsibilities, such as coordinating paperwork, scheduling case management activities, or writing lesson plans.
Consult with and refer clients to additional medical or educational services.
Design, develop, or employ alternative diagnostic or communication devices or strategies.
Conduct lessons or direct educational or therapeutic games to assist teachers dealing with speech problems.
Provide communication instruction to dialect speakers or students with limited English proficiency.
Participate in conferences, training, continuing education courses, or publish research results to share knowledge of new hearing or speech disorder treatment methods or technologies.
Communicate with students who use an alternative method of communications, using sign language or computer technology.
Use computer applications to identify or assist with communication disabilities.
Conduct or direct research on speech or hearing topics and report findings for use in developing procedures, technologies, or treatments.
What still needs a person
6 of 23 tasks
Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments.
Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms.
Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement.
Supervise students or assistants.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons