AI exposure: Media Technical Directors/Managers
Coordinate activities of technical departments, such as taping, editing, engineering, and maintenance, to produce radio or television programs.
Reading this score
computedAt 28.1% of weighted task load, Media Technical Directors/Managers sits at the 50th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 52.2% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is presence. Across this occupation's 15 tasks it averages 1.77 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, a person has to be the one present. This is the friction software does not erode. Where the point of the act is that a human is there, to care or to witness or to take responsibility in the room, automating the output misses what was being paid for.
The most exposed thing this job does is Set up and execute video transitions and special effects, at 65.0%. The least is Follow instructions from production managers and directors during productions, at 6.7%. A gap of 58.3% 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 less exposed than the median of 38.5% across the group's 40 roles, with 30 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 15 tasks, 8 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 5 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
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 | 1.97 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.57 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.77 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.60 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.77 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.00 | 0-3 |
Task by task
15 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Set up and execute video transitions and special effects, such as fades, dissolves, cuts, keys, and supers, using computers to manipulate pictures as necessary. | 65.0% | 10.0% | 25.0% | 4.19 | exposed |
| Observe pictures through monitors and direct camera and video staff concerning shading and composition. | 52.5% | 22.5% | 25.0% | 4.54 | exposed |
| Monitor broadcasts to ensure that programs conform to station or network policies and regulations. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.18 | exposed |
| Confer with operations directors to formulate and maintain fair and attainable technical policies for programs. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.28 | exposed |
| Discuss filter options, lens choices, and the visual effects of objects being filmed with photography directors and video operators. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.46 | exposed |
| Operate equipment to produce programs or broadcast live programs from remote locations. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.13 | exposed |
| Switch between video sources in a studio or on multi-camera remotes, using equipment such as switchers, video slide projectors, and video effects generators. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.69 | exposed |
| Train workers in use of equipment, such as switchers, cameras, monitors, microphones, and lights. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.97 | exposed |
| Act as liaisons between engineering and production departments. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.54 | assisted |
| Schedule use of studio and editing facilities for producers and engineering and maintenance staff. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.19 | assisted |
| Test equipment to ensure proper operation. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Supervise and assign duties to workers engaged in technical control and production of radio and television programs. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.31 | untouched |
| Collaborate with promotions directors to produce on-air station promotions. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.31 | untouched |
| Direct technical aspects of newscasts and other productions, checking and switching between video sources and taking responsibility for the on-air product, including camera shots and graphics. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.79 | untouched |
| Follow instructions from production managers and directors during productions, such as commands for camera cuts, effects, graphics, and takes. | 6.7% | 5.8% | 87.5% | 4.52 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
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.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.