What does robot massage mean for the future of massage therapists? AI and robots have entered the massage therapy industry.
November 1, 2025
As the idea of AI and robots making their way into the massage therapy space becomes more of a reality, massage therapists are beginning to question the value these advancements may bring to both the profession and their own practices. Or, if they are advancements at all.
Currently, the overarching feelings massage therapists seem to have around AI/robotic massage is a mixture of trepidation, distrust and apprehension.
For example, we asked massage therapists about their thoughts on the oncoming wave of AI/robotics in the massage profession and found nine of the 12 respondents had largely negative feelings about the potential of automated massage therapy.
Admittedly, the sample size is small. But, the time is ripe to have meaningful conversations around how advancements in technology currently—and in the future—affect the profession.
Aescape, a robotics company focused on the wellness space, is looking to change the narrative about robotics within the massage community. Massage Therapy Journal took some of the concerns we were hearing from massage therapists to company leaders.
Here’s what they had to say.
Eric Stephenson, LMBT, President at imassage Inc., began to hear rumblings in 2020 from several colleagues about robotic massage. “It went in one ear and out the other until what can only be described as synchronicity happened in the Spring of 2022,” he says. “I met the Aescape team and learned about their mission and higher purpose in the world and realized it aligned with my own.”
Candidly, Stephenson notes, he was a skeptic up until the day he received his first Aescape experience. “Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but it far exceeded the expectations I had,” he describes. “I have received many of the evolving massage protocols since then. My most recent 30-minute Aescape session was fantastic—relaxing me to the point of falling asleep twice. At one point after coming back awake, it felt as though human hands were touching me.”
Paul Nunez, Director of Partnerships for Aescape, former massage therapist, has a career in the massage and spa space that spans 30 years. He was introduced to Eric Litman, founder and CEO of Aescape, in 2020 via a mutual friend who said: “You should talk to my buddy who is doing something with massage and robots.”
Nunez was intrigued by Litman’s vision around how many opportunities in the spa industry could be supplemented by technology. “Before joining the Aescape team, I was running operations for luxury spas with Four Seasons and Marriott, and fully understood the challenges of staffing spas to meet the incredible demand of guests wanting high-quality massage experiences,” Nunez recalls. “Aescape is poised to alleviate many of these challenges.”
But more importantly, Nunez says, he is a massage junkie. “I have received over 1,000 massages, and have hired, trained and worked with hundreds of massage therapists in my life, so I know what good massage feels like,” he says. “After my first Aescape massage over three years ago, I knew this was something special, and felt strongly that I wanted to participate in the evolution of this technology.”
Paying close attention to how Aescape is merged within the massage community is important to Nunez, who also thinks seriously about how the company can collaborate to bring out the best for people finding relief through massage therapy.
Some massage therapists were very frank about their disbelief that automated massage could rival human touch:
“I find the idea ridiculous. So much of what we do is about connection and touch. I am a deep tissue therapist. It takes being ‘mindful.’ A robot does not know how to be mindful. They can’t give or receive empathy, kindness.”
—Tara Wagner, LMT, MassageLuxe
“So much of the benefits of massage come from human touch. Touch is the first sense that is developed, and absent accidents/trauma, it remains long after we lose our other senses. It is how we connect when we can’t use words. Our skin never takes a break, therefore is always ready to receive signals/messages. Animals that are touch deprived become more aggressive. Babies are more likely to calm down when being held rather than being given something to mimic human touch. This is because touch is our most root survival tool, our most basic need outside of food, water and oxygen. Several older clients come in simply to be touched after their loved ones have passed or become disabled and are unable to provide the touch they once shared.”
—Brooke Flaspohler, LMT
“I do not believe the value of human touch is replaceable. I have tried some of the touchless therapies and, while relaxing and interesting, success depends on what the goal of the massage client is. Relaxation, targeted muscle contractions, mental well-being, each client is a puzzle and it’s the job of the therapist to utilize the tools in their toolbox to unlock the way to reach them.”
—Randi N. West, BCTMB, LMT, CMLDT
“I would never expect anyone serious about massage to consider an AI massage table. How can a machine replace personal touch? We have spent years convincing people that personal touch is part of the experience. I believe that there is an energetic experience that is shared that a machine cannot replace.”
—Jessie Greenbaum
Stephenson: Research is showing the majority of therapeutic outcomes from traditional massage are coming from the therapeutic alliance between the therapist and client more than any technique or modality. A machine will never replace personal human touch—and that is precisely the point. It is not meant to.
Robotic massage is not intended to replace a human and, by definition, never can.
Currently, only about 20% of Americans receive massage therapy on an annual basis. In addition, ISPA research suggests there is a shortage of around 29,000 massage practitioners in the U.S.
What this technology enables is for non-massage users to have an option to receive massage that may overcome some of the objections they have historically voiced. And, it may potentially provide a gateway experience into eventually feeling comfortable receiving human touch.
Nunez: Relationships are everything in life. And the relationship that a massage therapist has with their client is an incredibly important aspect of a successful massage. We feel the same way, and we are extremely focused on the perspective from the user experience.
Human contact will never be replaced.
Our goal is not to replace human touch, but to expand the opportunities for people to receive massages.
We have to remember that there are many barriers for people getting massages, whether they are economic, geographical or personal. Being in the spa industry for years, I have heard so many reasons why people do not feel comfortable getting massages. Many have told me that they don’t feel comfortable being touched due to trauma, trust issues or personal privacy concerns.
What I am the most excited about is removing a lot of those barriers for people so that they can finally have a massage on their terms, without fear of feeling unsafe or judged.
I do not believe the value of human touch is replaceable.
Randi N. West, BCTMB, LMT, CMLDT
Many massage therapists wonder if a robotic massage will feel cold and lack empathy:
“AI/Robotic massage as a machine is unable to replicate any human-like characteristics such as empathy and intuition. It will never have the true healing capabilities that a human massage therapist may have, whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. It would only be but a temporary short-term fix for the client/patient causing them to return to the clinic more often for treatment. As human massage therapists, we use our empathy, intuition and other capabilities such as energy work (e.g. Reiki) to aid in the healing of the client/patient’s body, mind and spirit. AI/Robotics has no place in the massage therapy industry as they will never be able to achieve and apply certain characteristics or therapies like a human massage therapist can.”
—Vanessa Timmons, LMT/Master Bodyworker, MassageLuxe
Stephenson: It is a fair point, and I’d like to suggest that the control and empathy is self-guided during the Aescape experience. In other words, there are many massage experiences I have where I walk away a highly-satisfied client—loving every part of my massage.
Still, I’ve also had many dissatisfying experiences, wishing the therapist had listened to me, paid attention to my requests, and stayed present and attentive with me during the massage.
With Aescape, I have the ability to control pressure levels in real time, as well as be sure that the robotic experience is not going to talk too much during my massage, not protect my modesty with sloppy draping techniques, impose pain on me with excessive pressure levels, or massage me with ice cold hands for the first 15 minutes. These are all very common themes that have happened in my quarter century of human touch experiences.
Nunez: People and massage therapists have been using tools to alleviate tension in the body for a very long time. Think of massage therapy tools like Hypervolts and Theraguns that are used every day. There is no relationship involved with those, but there has been an explosion of their integration into daily life. Why? Because they feel good and they work.
Now add intelligence to the equation. We are using AI to analyze each person’s body to best deliver a massage that is right for them. There is nothing cold about feeling good, and our massages feel really good!
Some massage therapists have very real fears around being replaced by robots:
“I’m not so sure of the motive behind the creation of AI massage tables. They say it’s not to replace massage therapists, however, that’s exactly what is happening. In actuality, humans cannot be replaced. A machine could never do what we as humans can do. Maybe there is a place for this invention somewhere, maybe if there is just no other option one would have no choice but to settle. Otherwise, an actual person is always best.”
—Darla Thomas
“Our industry is getting to the point where businesses want to raise prices but don’t want to raise wages. This will serve as a way to justify and normalize keeping our wages down. There is more demand for massage, but not every massage therapist is fully booked. With the various platforms, from private practices to huge spas, clients have a ton of options. This AI will take a percentage of that billion-dollar industry and put it in the hands of business people, leaving aging or part-time therapists with little work, or remove enough of the market that a full time 32–60 hour week therapist will have to go get a second job to supplement their income.”
—Anonymous
Stephenson: If we pull that thread through and unpack it, every industry under the sun has been impacted by technology and traditional means of delivery have been disrupted. Any and every industry has had to grapple with the concept of professionals/practitioners being “replaced.”
As a massage therapist and CE educator for more than 25 years, I am a believer in integration of emerging technology where and when it makes sense. AI robotic massage makes sense for the consumer of the future, and the time is now for integration.
If we look at the chiropractic and acupuncture client-experience models, these practitioners see more than one client per hour. The massage therapist of the future may innovate a whole new model, which might involve doing a thorough intake with a client then letting the first 20 minutes of the session be lead by the AI robotic experience.
During this time, they could move into an intake with another client before rejoining the initial client to perform 30 minutes of hands-on work, repeating this process throughout their day where appropriate. Essentially, this would greatly expand the reach in their community, as well as increase their compensation with the same amount of physical output.
With current research showing over 40% of therapists leaving the profession within the first two years due to physical concerns, there is a place for much of the labor intensive, hands-on massage work to be outsourced to robotics. So, it’s not a matter of massage therapists being replaced, but rather some of the workload being offloaded safely and effectively to robotics and, in the process, potentially redefining how a therapeutic massage practice operates.
Nunez: I have always been dedicated to the massage community, and these massage treatments that we have developed are not void of human touch. Massage therapists help create the massages, develop how they feel, what to address, and are extremely collaborative in nature. So while automated, they could not exist without massage therapist input. To think where we will go in the future as we develop more and more content in conjunction with the massage community is very exciting.
Aescape is also dedicated to the massage community, so much so that we created our own Research & Development team that has been researching the entire process of what makes a massage successful. Much of what we have discovered has been labeled as the “therapeutic alliance,” and we look forward to sharing this with the massage community to help them grow and develop as well.
All things in life evolve, and by using our technology, the massage profession and massage therapists will evolve, too. I personally believe that the value of human touch will increase with the introduction of automation. People will always seek out highly skilled massage therapists, precisely because of the energetic qualities of human touch.
But there are things that the massage community needs to consider as well. What type of growth is needed to evolve as it sees these new technological developments?
It’s not a matter of massage therapists being replaced, but rather some of the workload being offloaded safely and effectively to robotics and, in the process, potentially redefining how a therapeutic massage practice operates.
Eric Stephenson, LMBT, President at imassage Inc.
Massage therapists worry how robotic devices may impact liability insurance and fear being left open to lawsuits:
“The idea of having a fully automated massage table leaves our industry open to potential malpractice suits. Especially in the salons, spas and other multi-practitioner settings. I think this would be a big issue for the liability insurance providers.”
—Mary Elizabeth Le Blanc
Stephenson: Unlike a human applying pressure, there is a “governor” (controller) on the robotics that limits the amount of pressure that can be applied to ensure no one is injured and/or bruised from excessive force. In addition, the Aescape member is in full control of the applied pressure during every moment of the experience.
Unfortunately, we can’t say the same about a human massage experience. After years of candidly talking with both clients and massage therapists who have received massage, my anecdotal research estimates about 40% of us have had a massage where the pressure levels went way past our boundaries and imposed pain on our system. This would leave us in more pain after the massage than we came in with, and the negative effects often last for days or weeks afterward.
Many liability claims fall in the “inappropriate touch” category—any physical contact or behavior that is unwarranted, non-consensual or beyond the scope of the therapeutic treatment. The spectrum of this behavior ranges from a lack of communication and informed consent on one end to a massage therapist overstepping their boundaries around ethical touch and blatant sexual assault on the other. Obviously, this major pain point is not present in an AI robotic massage experience, and greatly reduces the fear a client may have with traditional massage.
Nunez: We have developed an incredibly safe system for delivering massage, and for those that worry about injuries being caused by Aescape, I can just say that they have not seen or felt how our system operates. Once people see and feel an Aescape massage, how integral safety and comfort was to the creation process will be evident.
Additionally, as someone who has operated high-volume spas that would annually perform over 30,000 massages a year, injuries happen that are caused by human therapists, too. I feel that we have removed a lot of the potential for harm simply based on the methods used to create Aescape massages. Our systems are strong enough to deliver a deep massage, but not strong enough to hurt and cause damage to a client.
Note: During the production of this story, Paul Nunez left his role as Director of Partnerships with Aescape.
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