Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Writers and Authors
Occupation · SOC 27-3043.00
Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.
Also called: Advertisement Agency Copywriter (Ad Agency Copywriter) · Advertising Copywriter · Copywriter · Freelance Copywriter · Advertising Associate · Advertising Writer · Communications Specialist · Promotion Writer · Search Engine Optimization Copywriter (SEO Copywriter) · Web Content Writer · Advertisement Copywriter (Ad Copywriter) · Advertisement Writer (Ad Writer)
Job family: Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-27-3043-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- About average employment outlook (+3.6% by 2034)
- 13,400 openings/yr
- High AI exposure
- Median pay $72,270/yr
- Can largely be done remotely (teleworkable)
- A reversal from 2013 — rated low automation risk then (21st), high AI task-overlap now (94th)
94th-percentile task overlap — yet about 13,400 openings a year (+3.6% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) High | 73rd | 1.0 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) High | 95th | 1.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High | 100th | 0.5 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.7), with simple added tooling (β 0.9), and including AI-powered software (γ 1.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
Most of this job's tasks can be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman), which tends to track with higher digital and AI exposure.
Historical automation estimate (2013)
A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
Frey–Osborne probability 0.0 · 21st percentile among occupations · Low
How AI is actually used in this job
Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.
| Write articles, bulletins, sales letters, speeches, and other related informative, marketing and promotional material. | 14.2% | |
| Invent names for products and write the slogans that appear on packaging, brochures and other promotional material. | 1.4% | |
| Develop advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients, working with an advertising agency's creative director and art director to determine the best way to present advertising information. | 0.9% | |
| Vary language and tone of messages based on product and medium. | 0.8% | |
| Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. | 0.7% | |
| Present drafts and ideas to clients. | 0.5% |
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | About average · +3.6% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 13,400 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 135,400 → 140,300 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international 2 occupations below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Writers and Authors sits at the 93rd percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
— exposure eased from 2023 to 2025. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
55% mean task exposure (2025)
93rd percentile of 427 placed occupations
−3 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising and Marketing Professionals · 2431 | 55% | Gradient 3 |
| Authors and Related Writers · 2641 | 55% | Gradient 3 |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 20 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Develop advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients, working with an advertising agency's creative director and art director to determine the best way to present advertising information. Core · importance 4.5
- Vary language and tone of messages based on product and medium. Core · importance 4.4
- Present drafts and ideas to clients. Core · importance 4.2
- Discuss with the client the product, advertising themes and methods, and any changes that should be made in advertising copy. Core · importance 4.2
- Review advertising trends, consumer surveys, and other data regarding marketing of goods and services to determine the best way to promote products. Core · importance 3.7
- Write articles, bulletins, sales letters, speeches, and other related informative, marketing and promotional material. Core · importance 3.7
- Conduct research and interviews to determine which of a product's selling features should be promoted. Supplemental · importance 3.6
- Invent names for products and write the slogans that appear on packaging, brochures and other promotional material. Supplemental · importance 3.5
- Collaborate with other writers on specific projects.
- Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.
- Consult with sales, media and marketing representatives to obtain information on product or service and discuss style and length of advertising written material.
- Edit or rewrite existing written material as necessary, and submit written material for approval by supervisor, editor, or publisher.
- Follow appropriate procedures to get copyrights for completed work.
- Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly.
- Prepare works in appropriate format for publication, and send them to publishers or producers.
- Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.
- Work with staff to develop script, story, or advertising concepts.
- Write advertising material for use by publication, broadcast, or internet media to promote the sale of goods and services.
- Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.
- Write to customers in their terms and on their level so that the script, story, or advertisement message is more readily received.
Work activities
- Confer with clients to determine needs.
- Present work to clients for approval.
- Write advertising or promotional material.
- Develop promotional strategies or plans.
- Conduct market research.
- Monitor current trends.
- Collaborate with others to prepare or perform artistic productions.
- Conduct research to inform art, designs, or other work.
- Collaborate with others in marketing activities.
- Edit written materials.
- Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.
- Write material for artistic or entertainment purposes.
- Coordinate artistic activities.
- Discuss production content and progress with others.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Essential skills
| Writing | 4.8 | |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.1 | |
| Active Listening | 3.9 | |
| Speaking | 3.9 | |
| Critical Thinking | 3.6 | |
| Active Learning | 3.4 | |
| Monitoring | 3.0 | |
| Learning Strategies | 2.8 |
Abilities
| Written Expression | 4.6 | |
| Written Comprehension | 4.1 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 4.0 | |
| Oral Expression | 4.0 | |
| Fluency of Ideas | 3.9 | |
| Originality | 3.9 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.6 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.6 | |
| Near Vision | 3.4 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.1 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 3.1 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Category Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Selective Attention | 2.8 |
Knowledge
Transferable skills
| Time Management | 3.6 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.4 | |
| Coordination | 3.4 | |
| Persuasion | 3.4 | |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.3 | |
| Service Orientation | 3.1 | |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.0 | |
| Negotiation | 2.9 | |
| Instructing | 2.9 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Showing the top 40 of 62.
Tools & technology
Showing the top 40 of 54.
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Typical entry-level education
- Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
- Preparation level
- SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services , Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs , English Language and Literature/Letters , Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences , Visual and Performing Arts . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 17.7% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Interest areas
| Creative Writing | 6.8 | |
| Marketing/Advertising | 6.3 | |
| Media | 6.0 | |
| Humanities | 5.7 | |
| Applied Arts and Design | 3.9 | |
| Sales | 3.1 | |
| Public Speaking | 2.9 | |
| Performing Arts | 2.2 | |
| Management/Administration | 2.1 | |
| Visual Arts | 2.0 |
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Artistic | 6.7 | |
| Enterprising | 4.8 | |
| Conventional | 3.3 | |
| Investigative | 3.3 | |
| Social | 2.9 |
Work styles
| Innovation | 2.9 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $41,080 |
| 25th percentile | $52,890 |
| Median (50th) | $72,270 |
| 75th percentile | $98,320 |
| 90th percentile | $133,680 |
| People employed | 47,800 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 14,380 | $69,020 |
| Information · Sector | 12,010 | $73,070 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation · Sector | 5,300 | — |
| Educational Services · Sector | 3,500 | $71,340 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 2,480 | $83,680 |
| Newspaper Publishers · National industry | 2,310 | $56,480 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 1,930 | $80,350 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) · Sector | 1,440 | $65,500 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 1,160 | $68,880 |
| Finance and Insurance · Sector | 1,130 | $85,240 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 1,020 | $98,730 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 1,000 | $70,000 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Newspaper Publishers · National industry | 82.22× | 2,310 |
| Television Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 42.73× | 860 |
| Information · Sector | 13.32× | 12,010 |
| Radio Broadcasting Stations · National industry | 7.48× | 120 |
| Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters · National industry | 6.68× | 150 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation · Sector | 6.47× | 5,300 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 4.31× | 14,380 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 2.22× | 1,930 |
Related occupations
Part of the Arts, Entertainment, & Design career cluster.
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers · 27-3043.05 Compare →
- Public Relations Specialists · 27-3031.00 Compare →
- Advertising Sales Agents · 41-3011.00 Compare →
- Search Marketing Strategists · 13-1161.01 Compare →
- Editors · 27-3041.00 Compare →
- Advertising and Promotions Managers · 11-2011.00 Compare →
- Art Directors · 27-1011.00 Compare →
- Producers and Directors · 27-2012.00 Compare →
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists · 27-3023.00 Compare →
- Technical Writers · 27-3042.00 Compare →
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists · 13-1161.00 Compare →
- Graphic Designers · 27-1024.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Writers and Authors — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- Bachelor's degree · typical entry level
- Job zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services · field of study
- Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 93rd percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Writers and Authors show 94th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 13,400 annual U.S. openings
- Writers and Authors rank in the 94th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 13,400 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be about average (+3.6%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $72,270, across about 47,800 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Writers and Authors show 94th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 13,400 annual U.S. openings • Writers and Authors rank in the 94th percentile (High band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 13,400 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be about average (+3.6%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $72,270, across about 47,800 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Writers and Authors". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
Sources for this page
Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Writers and Authors." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Writers and Authors. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-27-3043-00,
title = {Writers and Authors},
author = {{Singulariki}},
year = {2026},
note = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.