AI exposure: Graphic Designers
Design or create graphics to meet specific commercial or promotional needs, such as packaging, displays, or logos. May use a variety of mediums to achieve artistic or decorative effects.
Reading this score
computed51.2% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Graphic Designers at the 89th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.8 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
No single friction dominates this occupation. The strongest is context at 1.46 out of 3 and the weakest is accountability at 0.29, which is a narrow spread. Where nothing structural stands in the way, exposure tracks capability almost directly, and capability is the thing that changes every quarter.
The most exposed thing this job does is Research new software or design concepts, at 86.7%. The least is Photograph layouts, at 15.0%. A gap of 71.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 40 roles in the group is 36.4%, and only 7 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 19 tasks, 18 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 1 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take capability alone, since there is little structural friction here to slow adoption once a system can do the work. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research new software or design concepts. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 3.50 | exposed |
| Write or edit copy for clients. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 2.82 | exposed |
| Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 4.60 | exposed |
| Use computer software to generate new images. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 4.47 | exposed |
| Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 4.13 | exposed |
| Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for printing. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Produce still and animated graphics for on-air and taped portions of television news broadcasts, using electronic video equipment. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 3.00 | exposed |
| Research the target audience of projects. | 64.8% | 18.5% | 16.7% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Study illustrations and photographs to plan presentation of materials, products, or services. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.10 | exposed |
| Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed. | 47.5% | 27.5% | 25.0% | 4.65 | exposed |
| Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.28 | exposed |
| Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or supervisors and making necessary changes. | 39.6% | 22.9% | 37.5% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Prepare digital files for printing. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.45 | exposed |
| Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.70 | exposed |
| Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.56 | exposed |
| Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.50 | exposed |
| Photograph layouts, using camera, to make layout prints for supervisors or clients. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 2.84 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.78 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.79 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.54 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.29 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.46 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.94 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.