Industry group, 7115
Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers
67,580 people work in this industry in the US, at mean pay of $78,370 a year (BLS, May 2025). What follows is how much of their working time the best AI models could finish, when, and in which jobs and tasks. Estimates.
of the paid hours. Estimate.
a year: 16 million hours at what they cost. Not a forecast of savings.
- 54%
- 12%
- 35%
of the paid hours are within reach now in tasks people already bring to Claude. Another 17% is within reach in tasks not yet seen there.
Across the US: 22% within reach now and 37% by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five.
Share of the paid hours within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this industry's paid hours were within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 17%. Today's estimate: 21%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Where the hours are
Jobs by hours within reach now. The 31 largest jobs hold 95% of the people.
| People | Pay here | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writers and Authors | 6,730 | 20% | 2.8 million | $60K |
| General and Operations Managers | 4,090 | 23% | 1.9 million | $98K |
| Disc Jockeys, Except Radio | 3,490 | 18% | 1.3 million | $59K |
| Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive | 1,400 | 43% | 1.2 million | $50K |
| Audio and Video Technicians | 2,030 | 25% | 1.1 million | $54K |
| Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks | 560 | 78% | 903,886 | $51K |
| Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel | 870 | 43% | 778,130 | $52K |
| Editors | 640 | 46% | 613,686 | $80K |
| Self-Enrichment Teachers | 470 | 54% | 525,949 | $48K |
| Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators | 3,150 | 8% | 511,062 | $50K |
| Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys | 470 | 52% | 507,376 | $122K |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 2,090 | 9% | 391,248 | $47K |
People: BLS counts for this industry, May 2025. Pay here: the median paid for the job in this industry, else its mean, else the national median. 39 smaller jobs (1,800 people) count in every total but are not listed. Task data covers 55% of the industry's people; the rest are in BLS "all other" groups with no task list, or in counts BLS does not publish.
The tasks with the most hours within reach by the end of 2028
Across the whole industry, on the chosen pace and reliability.
- Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.Writers and Authors2 million hours62% of the task within reach
- Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.Writers and Authors1.6 million hours84% of the task within reach
- Write articles, bulletins, sales letters, speeches, and other related informative, marketing and promotional material.Writers and Authors1.5 million hours91% of the task within reach
- Write advertising material for use by publication, broadcast, or internet media to promote the sale of goods and services.Writers and Authors1.4 million hours98% of the task within reach
- Vary language and tone of messages based on product and medium.Writers and Authors1.2 million hours100% of the task within reach
- Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.Writers and Authors1.1 million hours95% of the task within reach
- Integrate and develop visual elements, such as line, space, mass, color, and perspective, to produce desired effects, such as the illustration of ideas, emotions, or moods.Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators978,931 hours99% of the task within reach
- Edit or rewrite existing written material as necessary, and submit written material for approval by supervisor, editor, or publisher.Writers and Authors932,530 hours100% of the task within reach
- Create tailored playlists by aligning music with event functions.Disc Jockeys, Except Radio858,095 hours100% of the task within reach
- Record and edit audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.Audio and Video Technicians620,905 hours99% of the task within reach
Scan a typical company in this industry
The industry's largest jobs, in the proportions BLS counts across the whole industry, at the pay it pays, run through the company scan. A starting point before you have a roster, or a benchmark for the one you have.
Next to this industry
Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events194,390 people19% now, 34% by 2028
- Spectator Sports170,410 people20% now, 36% by 2028
- Performing Arts Companies141,340 people21% now, 40% by 2028
- Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures30,080 people41% now, 67% by 2028
How it is built: BLS counts the people in each job in this industry; each job's tasks and their lengths give its share within reach at a date; the industry's share is those shares weighted by people. Value is pay times 1.43 for benefits and payroll costs. Seen in Claude use splits today's share by whether Anthropic saw people bring each task to Claude in 2025; other AI tools are not counted. How it works