Technical Writers
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations- O*NET-SOC code
- 27-3042.00
Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.
- Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08
Very high· relative
LowFour relative bandsVery highGroup-level value
Scale, basis and source
Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)
831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band
- Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03
0.475
0.000Range of values carried here0.745Scale, basis and source
Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published
Mapped onto O*NET tasks
Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value
- Data source: ILOPublished: 2025
0.55
0.09Range of values carried here0.70Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published
Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published
What kind of figure this source publishes
The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.
Task-level exposure
Exposed tasks only15 rated tasks · 14 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (93.3%)
β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.
- Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
- All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
- Source
- OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
- Release
- gh-main-0471612
- License
- MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI
| Task (O*NET 30.2) | Claude.aiRaw / share % | APIRaw / share % |
|---|---|---|
Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel.27-3042.00 | 1.060063.1 | 1.150051.1 |
Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.27-3042.00 | 0.540032.1 | 1.000044.4 |
Maintain records and files of work and revisions.27-3042.00 | 0.03001.8 | 0.02000.9 |
Develop or maintain online help documentation.27-3042.00 | 0.02001.2 | 0.05002.2 |
Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material.27-3042.00 | 0.01000.6 | 0.02000.9 |
Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding.27-3042.00 | 0.01000.6 | 0.00000.0 |
Assist in laying out material for publication.27-3042.00 | 0.01000.6 | 0.00000.0 |
Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail.27-3042.00 | 0.00000.0 | 0.01000.4 |
Draw sketches to illustrate specified materials or assembly sequence.27-3042.00 | 0.00000.0 | —0 |
Analyze developments in specific field to determine need for revisions in previously published materials and development of new material. | —0 | 0.00000.0 |
| Not observed on any surface — 5 task(s) — These tasks have no row in the source for this release. The 0 in the share row is a display-stage composition ratio; absence is what the — in the raw row states. | ||
Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication. | —0 | —0 |
Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods. | —0 | —0 |
Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail. | —0 | —0 |
Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material. | —0 | —0 |
Review manufacturer's and trade catalogs, drawings and other data relative to operation, maintenance, and service of equipment. | —0 | —0 |
Values in this tab are predicted labels, not observations. Eloundou et al. (2023) published two rating regimes — human raters and GPT-4 — and the β shown here is derived from the GPT-4 rater basis alone; the same task can take a different value under the other regime. The unit and the meaning differ from the observed shares (%) in the other tabs, so do not place them on the same axis.
| Task (O*NET 27.2) | βE1 + 0.5 × E2 |
|---|---|
Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.O*NET Task ID 3966 | 1.0 |
Maintain records and files of work and revisions.O*NET Task ID 3967 | 1.0 |
Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel.O*NET Task ID 3968 | 1.0 |
Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding.O*NET Task ID 3970 | 1.0 |
Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail.O*NET Task ID 3974 | 1.0 |
Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material.O*NET Task ID 3975 | 1.0 |
Develop or maintain online help documentation.O*NET Task ID 20243 | 1.0 |
Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material.O*NET Task ID 3971 | 0.5 |
Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail.O*NET Task ID 3972 | 0.5 |
Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods.O*NET Task ID 3973 | 0.5 |
Assist in laying out material for publication.O*NET Task ID 3976 | 0.5 |
Analyze developments in specific field to determine need for revisions in previously published materials and development of new material.O*NET Task ID 3977 | 0.5 |
Review manufacturer's and trade catalogs, drawings and other data relative to operation, maintenance, and service of equipment.O*NET Task ID 3978 | 0.5 |
Draw sketches to illustrate specified materials or assembly sequence.O*NET Task ID 3979 | 0.5 |
Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication.O*NET Task ID 3969 | 0.0 |
β = E1 + 0.5 × E2 · E1 = tasks where direct LLM access alone cuts time by at least 50%, E2 = tasks where software built on top of an LLM cuts time by at least 50%. Values take only 0 / 0.5 / 1.0.
Data sources & licenses — O*NET®, Anthropic Economic Index, Eloundou et al. (2023): see full notices on the Credits page
All O*NET 31.0 task statements (15)
All O*NET 31.0 task statements for this occupation (English, as published; task type core or supplemental). Exposure values are not listed here; they are in the table above, next to each task statement as worded in the O*NET version each source used.
| Task (O*NET 31.0) | Type |
|---|---|
| Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology. | Core |
| Maintain records and files of work and revisions. | Core |
| Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel. | Core |
| Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication. | Core |
| Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding. | Core |
| Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material. | Core |
| Assist in laying out material for publication. | Core |
| Analyze developments in specific field to determine need for revisions in previously published materials and development of new material. | Core |
| Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail. | Supplemental |
| Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods. | Supplemental |
| Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail. | Supplemental |
| Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material. | Supplemental |
| Review manufacturer's and trade catalogs, drawings and other data relative to operation, maintenance, and service of equipment. | Supplemental |
| Draw sketches to illustrate specified materials or assembly sequence. | Supplemental |
| Develop or maintain online help documentation. | Supplemental |
0.00/ 3· Robot exposure index
Scale, basis and source
Each physical task is graded 0–3 by the setting in which robots that have been deployed, sold or demonstrated could do it (0 none · 1 purpose-built robot settings such as a fenced machine cell or a bottling line · 2 structured facilities such as a hospital pharmacy or a container port · 3 unstructured settings such as a private home or a construction site), and the grades are averaged by share of working time
Physical tasks among this occupation's O*NET 29.3 tasks
Anthropic estimated the grades and time shares with Claude Opus 5 using web search, as of 2026.
The robot exposure index is a different measure from the AI exposure figures on this site and cannot be added to or compared with them. It does not measure actual adoption or cost, and 0 also covers occupations with no physical tasks.
Tier of each physical task
None of this occupation's O*NET 29.3 tasks is classified as a physical task.
Occupation information
Employment outlook (BLS)
- Employment, 2025
- 46K
- Projected employment, 2035
- 47K
- Change (2025–35)
- +0.8%
- Median annual wage, 2025
- $90,390
- Typical education needed for entry
- Bachelor's degree
Korea classification links (KSCO)
Links from the current release of the Korea Occupation Direct Crosswalk v1.1, made by AI Changing Work. Relation values are read from the O*NET-SOC occupation side.
| KSCO code | KSCO title | Relation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29119 | 그 외 작가 | This occupation is narrower | confirmed |
Relation and status definitions(kr-direct v1.1)
ILO occupational description
AI Changing Work links the ISCO-08 unit groups below to this occupation by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (2018 SOC to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to ISCO-08) as published, without case-by-case selection; each link may be whole or partial.
- ISCO-08 2641Authors and Related Writers
The definition, tasks and examples below are the ILO's description of that unit group, not of this occupation.
Authors and related writers plan, research and write books, scripts, storyboards, plays, essays, speeches, manuals, specifications and other non-journalistic articles (excluding material for newspapers, magazines and other periodicals) for publication or presentation.
Tasks
- (a) conceiving, writing and editing novels, plays, scripts, poetry and other material for publication or presentation;
- (b) conducting research to establish factual content and to obtain other necessary information;
- (c) writing scripts and continuities and preparing programmes for stage, film, radio and television productions;
- (d) analysing material, such as specifications, notes and drawings, and creating manuals, instructions for use, user guides and other documents to explain clearly and concisely the installation, operation and maintenance of software, electronic, mechanical and other equipment;
- (e) writing brochures, handbooks and similar technical publications;
- (f) selecting material for publication, checking style, grammar and accuracy of content, arranging for any necessary revisions and checks proof copies before printing.
Example occupations
Author · Book editor · Essayist · Indexer · Interactive media writer · Novelist · Playwright · Poet · Script writer · Speech writer · Technical communicator · Technical writer · Writer
Sources: ILO ISCO-08 — details: Credits
ESCO occupational vocabulary
Each entry below is matched to this occupation in the published ESCO-O*NET Crosswalk (version 1, 2022). The match types are that crosswalk's; the wording is AI Changing Work's.
- technical communicatorESCO 2641.4.4Same scope
Technical communicators prepare clear, concise and professional communication from product developers to users of the products such as online help, user manuals, white papers, specifications and industrial videos. For this, they analyse products, legal requirements, markets, customers and users. They develop information and media concepts, standards, structures and software tool support. They plan the content creation and media production processes, develop written, graphical, video or other contents, generate media output, release their information products and receive feedback from the users.
Source: European Commission, DG EMPL — ESCO API 2026-08-08 (bridge v1.2.1)
License: CC BY 4.0 (EU Reuse Notice)
ESCO reuse terms and the modification notice are in Credits.
France classification links (ROME)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and ROME 4.0 job profiles, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side. Links marked “provisional” were adopted on the judgments of two judges from the same model family (Claude) alone, or by an operator rule applied to their judgments, so they rest on weaker evidence than confirmed links.
| ROME code | ROME title (French) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| H1207 | Rédacteur / Rédactrice technique | Same scopeprovisional |
| H1226 | Rédacteur médical / Rédactrice médicale en industrie pharmaceutique | This occupation is broaderprovisional |
| H1234 | Responsable de service de rédaction technique | Related, not a matchprovisional |
Source: France Travail — Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME 4.0), version 61, last updated 15 June 2026 (https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/repertoire-operationnel-des-metiers-et-des-emplois-rome). Licence Ouverte 2.0.
ROME codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET-SOC occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a France Travail correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: fr-direct v1)
Spain classification links (CNO-11)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and CNO-11 occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| CNO-11 code | CNO-11 title (Spanish) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 2921 | Escritores | This occupation is narrowerprovisional |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), National Classification of Occupations 2011 (CNO-11, Royal Decree 1591/2010) — www.ine.es · Licensed CC BY 4.0. CNO-11 codes and Spanish titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not an INE correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: es-direct v1)
Germany classification links (KldB)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and KldB occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| KldB code | KldB title (German) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 92413 | Redakteure/Redakteurinnen und Journalisten/Journalistinnen - komplexe Spezialistentätigkeiten | This occupation is narrowerprovisional |
| 92434 | Autoren/Autorinnen und Schriftsteller/innen - hoch komplexe Tätigkeiten | Related, not a matchprovisional |
Source: © Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit — Klassifikation der Berufe 2010 – überarbeitete Fassung 2020, https://statistik.arbeitsagentur.de. KldB codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own mapping (eigene Zuordnung) and are not a Bundesagentur für Arbeit correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: de-direct v1)
Japan classification links (JSCO)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and JSCO occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| JSCO code | JSCO title (Japanese) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 212 | 記者，編集者 | This occupation is narrower |
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan Standard Occupational Classification (Dec. 2009, MIC Notification No. 555). JSCO codes and Japanese titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a MIC correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: jp-direct v1)
Sources, licenses and AI Changing Work's modification and translation notices for this page: Credits & sources