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AI exposure Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media

Will AI replace producers and directors?

Producers and Directors. US occupation 27-2012.

9.2%

of the time producers and directors spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of producers and directors' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.

Ranked 195 of 756 US occupations. More exposed than 74% of them.Further along than 74% of them.

Average US job 7.7%

Well above the typical job.Ahead of most of the workforce.

What AI already does for producers and directorsWhat producers and directors no longer do alone

O*NET lists 83 tasks for producers and directors. AI use at work shows up in 9 of them. Each score runs from 0.5, where every observed use helps a person with the task, to 1, where every use does the task outright.

  1. Coordinate the activities of writers, directors, managers, and other personnel throughout the production process.Core task mostly automated 1.00
  2. Review information about programs and schedules to ensure accuracy and provide such information to local media outlets.Core task mostly automated 1.00
  3. Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.Core task mostly automated 1.00
  4. Read scripts and confer with producers to determine the types and numbers of performers required for a given production.Core task mostly automated 0.94
  5. Write and edit news stories from information collected by reporters and other sources. mostly automated 0.92
  6. Research production topics using the internet, video archives, and other informational sources.Core task mostly automated 0.90
  7. Compile scripts, program notes, and other material related to productions.Core task mostly automated 0.86
  8. Compose and edit scripts or provide screenwriters with story outlines from which scripts can be written. automated and assisted 0.76
Show the other 1
  1. Consult with writers, producers, or actors about script changes or "workshop" scripts, through rehearsal with writers and actors to create final drafts.Core task automated and assisted 0.70

What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human

74 of the 83 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.

  • Act as liaisons between engineering and production departments.Core task
  • Arrange for or design screen tests or auditions for prospective performers.Core task
  • Attend or view productions to maintain knowledge of available actors.Core task
  • Audition and interview performers to match their attributes to specific roles or to increase the pool of available acting talent.Core task
  • Check completed program logs for accuracy and conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations and resolve program log inaccuracies.Core task
  • Collaborate with promotions directors to produce on-air station promotions.Core task
Show the other 68
  • Communicate to actors the approach, characterization, and movement needed for each scene in such a way that rehearsals and takes are minimized.Core task
  • Conduct interviews for broadcasts.Core task
  • Conduct meetings with staff to discuss production progress and to ensure production objectives are attained.Core task
  • Confer with directors and production staff to discuss issues, such as production and casting problems, budgets, policies, and news coverage.Core task
  • Confer with operations directors to formulate and maintain fair and attainable technical policies for programs.Core task
  • Confer with technical directors, managers, crew members, and writers to discuss details of production, such as photography, script, music, sets, and costumes.Core task
  • Contact agents and actors to provide notification of audition and performance opportunities and to set up audition times.Core task
  • Coordinate activities between departments, such as news and programming.Core task
  • Develop ideas for programs and features that a station could produce.Core task
  • Develop promotions for current programs and specials.Core task
  • Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in broadcast news, sports, or programming.Core task
  • Direct live broadcasts, films and recordings, or non-broadcast programming for public entertainment or education.Core task
  • Direct setup of remote facilities and install or cancel programs at remote stations.Core task
  • Establish pace of programs and sequences of scenes according to time requirements and cast and set accessibility.Core task
  • Establish work schedules and assign work to staff members.Core task
  • Evaluate new and existing programming to assess suitability and the need for changes, using information such as audience surveys and feedback.Core task
  • Identify and approve equipment and elements required for productions, such as scenery, lights, props, costumes, choreography, and music.Core task
  • Maintain talent files that include information such as performers' specialties, past performances, and availability.Core task
  • Monitor and review programming to ensure that schedules are met, guidelines are adhered to, and performances are of adequate quality.Core task
  • Monitor broadcasts to ensure that programs conform to station or network policies and regulations.Core task
  • Monitor network transmissions for advisories concerning daily program schedules, program content, special feeds, or program changes.Core task
  • Negotiate contract agreements with performers, with agents, or between performers and agents or production companies.Core task
  • Observe pictures through monitors and direct camera and video staff concerning shading and composition.Core task
  • Obtain rights to scripts or to such items as existing video footage.Core task
  • Operate and maintain on-air and production audio equipment.Core task
  • Operate equipment to produce programs or broadcast live programs from remote locations.Core task
  • Perform management activities, such as budgeting, scheduling, planning, and marketing.Core task
  • Perform personnel duties, such as hiring staff and evaluating work performance.Core task
  • Plan and schedule programming and event coverage, based on broadcast length, time availability, and other factors, such as community needs, ratings data, and viewer demographics.Core task
  • Plan details such as framing, composition, camera movement, sound, and actor movement for each shot or scene.Core task
  • Prepare actors for auditions by providing scripts and information about roles and casting requirements.Core task
  • Prepare copy and edit tape so that material is ready for broadcasting.Core task
  • Read news, read or record public service and promotional announcements, or perform other on-air duties.Core task
  • Resolve personnel problems that arise during the production process by acting as liaisons between dissenting parties when necessary.Core task
  • Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.Core task
  • Review performer information, such as photos, resumes, voice tapes, videos, and union membership, to decide whom to audition for parts.Core task
  • Schedule use of studio and editing facilities for producers and engineering and maintenance staff.Core task
  • Select performers for roles or submit lists of suitable performers to producers or directors for final selection.Core task
  • Select, acquire, and maintain programs, music, films, and other needed materials and obtain legal clearances for their use as necessary.Core task
  • Serve as liaisons between directors, actors, and agents.Core task
  • Supervise and assign duties to workers engaged in technical control and production of radio and television programs.Core task
  • Supervise and coordinate the work of camera, lighting, design, and sound crew members.Core task
  • Switch between video sources in a studio or on multi-camera remotes, using equipment such as switchers, video slide projectors, and video effects generators.Core task
  • Test equipment to ensure proper operation.Core task
  • Train workers in use of equipment, such as switchers, cameras, monitors, microphones, and lights.Core task
  • Act as a liaison between talent and directors, providing information that performers or guests need to prepare for appearances and communicating relevant information from guests, performers, or staff to directors.
  • Arrange financing for productions.
  • Choose settings and locations for films and determine how scenes will be shot in these settings.
  • Cue announcers, actors, performers, and guests.
  • Cut and edit film or tape to integrate component parts into desired sequences.
  • Develop budgets for programming and broadcasting activities and monitor expenditures to ensure that they remain within budgetary limits.
  • Develop marketing plans for finished products, collaborating with sales associates to supervise product distribution.
  • Direct shows, productions, and plays.
  • 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.
  • Discuss filter options, lens choices, and the visual effects of objects being filmed with photography directors and video operators.
  • Follow instructions from production managers and directors during productions, such as commands for camera cuts, effects, graphics, and takes.
  • Hire and supervise workers who help locate people with specified attributes and talents.
  • Hire principal cast members and crew members, such as art directors, cinematographers, and costume designers.
  • Hold auditions for parts or negotiate contracts with actors determined suitable for specific roles.
  • Locate performers or extras for crowd and background scenes, and stand-ins or photo doubles for actors, by direct contact or through agents.
  • Negotiate with parties, including independent producers and the distributors and broadcasters who will be handling completed productions.
  • Participate in the planning and execution of fundraising activities.
  • Perform administrative duties, such as preparing operational reports, distributing rehearsal call sheets and script copies, and arranging for rehearsal quarters.
  • Review film daily to check on work in progress and to plan for future filming.
  • Select plays, scripts, books, news content, or ideas to be produced.
  • Set up and execute video transitions and special effects, such as fades, dissolves, cuts, keys, and supers, using computers to manipulate pictures as necessary.
  • Teach acting classes.
  • Write and submit proposals to bid on contracts for projects.

How that compares

Among the 34 arts, design, entertainment, sports and media occupations, producers and directors rank 16. The group averages 14.2%, and its most exposed job is Technical Writers at 47.5%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.

All 756 occupations, ranked

Just above in the ranking

  1. 193Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks 9.3%
  2. 193Veterinarians 9.3%
  3. 195Healthcare Social Workers 9.2%

Just below

  1. 197Flight Attendants 9.1%
  2. 198Pharmacists 9.0%
  3. 199Electrical and Electronics Drafters 8.9%

What this does and does not mean

Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.

A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.

Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.