Career Explorer Arts, media and sport
Changing shape
Writers and authors
Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.
Among the careers AI is changing fastest: more resilient than 6% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by -0.3% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on creative vision.
AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.
- Median pay (2025)
- $76,910
- Job growth to 2035
- -0.3%
- Openings a year
- 11,900
- People doing it (2025)
- 140,000
- Usual route in
- Bachelor's degree, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Write material for artistic or commercial purposes
- Edit written materials or documents
- Explain technical details of products or services
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Develop business or marketing plans
- Coordinate artistic or entertainment activities
- Collect data about consumer needs or opinions
What the work looks like
- Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.
- Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.
- Present drafts and ideas to clients.
- Edit or rewrite existing written material as necessary, and submit written material for approval by supervisor, editor, or publisher.
- Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as more written works are generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools, substituting for some writers.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Film and video editorsGrows with AI, Index 33, +3.7%
- Graphic designersChanging shape, Index 12, -1.7%
- Set and exhibit designersChanging shape, Index 35, +1.4%
- Web and digital interface designersGrows with AI, Index 17, +6.0%
Also known as: Author, Copywriter, Freelance Writer, Writer, Novelist, Songwriter, Advertising Copywriter, Advertising Writer.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.