Art Directors
In short: today's best AI models could do about 54% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 68% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 32% of the time, stays with people.
Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film. Direct workers engaged in artwork or layout design.
53,070 people do this job in the US. $114,850 a year.
Reviewed on October 18, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work21 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet5 h
- Stays with people13 h
Art Directors, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 21 hours become checking its work, 5 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 13 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Create illustrations and graphics (about 6 h, a person checks); Set the layout and design approach (about 4 h, a person checks); Manage accounts and projects (about 3 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 68%
- 0%
- 24%
- 8%
- 0%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 54% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 14%. Today's estimate: 54%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.095% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 164th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 6 of its 16 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.13% to 0.31% (released February and March 2025); 0.097% to 0.23% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.11% to 0.095% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.13% | 142 of 708 | 7 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.31% | 60 of 703 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.097% | 158 of 655 | 5 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.12% | 135 of 672 | 6 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.23% | 86 of 677 | 7 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.11% | 149 of 434 | 6 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.095% | 164 of 447 | 6 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates almost none of this job's working time as physical work, so robots do not reach it.
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
32% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Develop design solutions with creative directors, the conversation, 7%
- Manage accounts and projects, the conversation, 6%
- Hire, train and direct design staff, the conversation, 6%
- Attend shoots and press checks, the in-person work, 4%
- Present layouts to clients, the in-person work, 3%
- Confer with department heads, the conversation, 3%
What becomes checking the machine
66% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 2% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Create illustrations and graphics, costly if wrong, 18%
- Set the layout and design approach, costly if wrong, 12%
- Manage accounts and projects, costly if wrong, 9%
- Design interfaces, costly if wrong, 9%
- Develop design solutions with creative directors, costly if wrong, 4%
- Finish layouts for printing, costly if wrong, 4%
What to learn
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 68% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- The conversations. About 32% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Dealing with people outside the organization. Customers, patients, suppliers or the public: trust with them is built by a person.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.Drawing the custom illustrations and graphic elements.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 18% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Documents 100% | 80%Half by now |
| Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.Keeping each project to its budget and schedule, with calls to the client.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Documents 60%, conversation 40% | 51%Desk part half by now |
| Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.Deciding the layout and specifying type, images, graphics and sound.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.3 work days | Documents 100% | 91%Half by now |
| Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.Working the design out with the creative director, with sketches between the conversations.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Conversation 60%, documents 40% | 38%Desk part half by now |
| Conceptualize and help design interfaces for multimedia games, products, and devices.Working out the interface for a game, product or device on screen.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 1 work day1.7 h to 3.1 work days | Documents 100% | 40%Half by Jan 2027 |
| Hire, train, and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing.Interviews, direction and reviews in conversation, with the write-ups behind them.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Conversation 70%, documents 30% | 17%Desk part half by now |
| Attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained.Being at the shoot or the press to see the work come out right.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Mark up, paste, and complete layouts and write typography instructions to prepare materials for typesetting or printing.Completing the layouts and writing the typography instructions on screen.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Research current trends and new technology, such as printing production techniques, computer software, and design trends.Reading up on production techniques, software and design trends; the knowing is the director's own.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Documents 50%, in person 50% | 50%Desk part half by now |
| Present final layouts to clients for approval.Walking the client through the final layouts, in the room and by video.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | In person 60%, conversation 40% | Stays with people |
| Prepare detailed storyboards showing sequence and timing of story development for television production.Drawing the storyboard frames and timing for the production.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | Documents 100% | 69%Half by now |
| Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.Meetings with the creative, copy and production heads about the client's needs and the concepts.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Conversation 100% | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Art Directors is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 54% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 68% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (66% to 68% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Art Directors come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Create illustrations and graphics (80% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Set the layout and design approach (91% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Manage accounts and projects (51% of the task's time now, 60% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Art Directors stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Attend shoots and press checks; Present layouts to clients; and Confer with department heads. Together such tasks are about 11% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Art Directors learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are reviewing work you did not do yourself; briefing a model and checking its drafts; and the conversations. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 32% of the working time stays with people, 66% becomes checking a model's work and 2% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Art Directors?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.095% went to this job's tasks, the 164th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 6 of its 16 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 21%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Art Directors?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds almost none of the working time is physical work, so robots do not reach it.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on October 18, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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