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Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

Occupation · SOC 27-3043.05

Create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry or song lyrics, for publication or performance.

Also called: Author · Freelance Writer · Novelist · Songwriter · Creative Writer · Fiction Writer · Librettist · Lyricist · Nonfiction Writer · Poet · Blog Content Writer · Blog Writer

Job family: Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations

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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.

Often handed to AI

Task areas most often handled directively in observed AI conversations — candidates to delegate with light review.

  • Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue, to create material. · 116.0%
  • Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers. · 3.2%
  • Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events. · 1.0%
See how AI is used here →

Use as a copilot

Task areas where people work with AI — iterating, learning, or checking — staying in the loop rather than handing the task off.

  • Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. · 13.7%
  • Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. · 10.3%
  • Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works. · 2.0%
See collaboration patterns →

Keep a human in the loop

Task areas where a human was still judged necessary in a large share of observed conversations — not a safety ruling, an observed-need signal.

  • Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. · 100.0% need a human
  • Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. · 98.8% need a human
  • Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly. · 98.5% need a human
See the boundary tasks →

88th-percentile task overlap — yet about 13,400 openings a year (+3.6% projected, BLS), and observed AI use leans 4619% copilot, not hand-off (AEI) . 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 76th 0.9
AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) High 100th 0.5

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.9), with simple added tooling (β 0.9), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.9). 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 narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. 33.8%
Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. 17.7%
Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events. 2.1%
Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works. 1.8%
Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers. 1.2%
Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. 0.7%

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.

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.

Working with AI in this job

How people actually apply AI to this occupation's tasks, from Claude.ai (Free and Pro) conversations in the Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15. This is one AI assistant's consumer sample — not all AI, not the whole workforce. Autonomy and the collaboration mix are model-rated estimates; figures below the sample floor are hidden.

Augmentation vs. automation 46.2% working with AI · 50.1% handed to AI
Most common way people use AI here Directive · AI does it; you give the instruction
Typical AI autonomy 4.0 / 5 · higher = AI acts more independently
Used for work (vs. personal / coursework) 16.2%

What people delegate to AI

The role's most common tasks in AI conversations, each tagged with how people work with the AI on it. “Usage” is the share of observed conversations, not of the job.

Task How Usage
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue, to create material. Directive 116.0%
Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. Iteration 13.7%
Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. Iteration 10.3%
Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers. Directive 3.2%
Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works. Iteration 2.0%
Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events. Directive 1.0%
Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly. Directive 0.7%
Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. Iteration 0.6%

Where a human is still needed

Tasks where the model most often judged that a person remained necessary — a useful read on the current boundary, not a guarantee.

Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers. 100.0%
Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. 98.8%
Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly. 98.5%
Teach writing classes. 97.7%
Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. 93.9%
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue, to create material. 92.9%

What people most often hand AI here

Example prompts phrased from the tasks people most often delegate to AI in this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index). Each shows the underlying measured task and its share of observed AI use. They are suggested phrasings of real tasks — starting points, not endorsed instructions.

  • Help me develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue, to create material.

    From: Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue, to create material. · 116.0% of measured AI use · directive

  • Help me write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication.

    From: Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication. · 13.7% of measured AI use · task iteration

  • Help me write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows.

    From: Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows. · 10.3% of measured AI use · task iteration

  • Help me adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers.

    From: Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers. · 3.2% of measured AI use · directive

Tasks

All 16 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

Work activities

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Essential skills

Writing 4.8
Reading Comprehension 4.3
Speaking 3.9
Critical Thinking 3.8
Active Learning 3.8
Active Listening 3.6
Learning Strategies 2.8
Monitoring 2.8

Abilities

Written Expression 4.8
Fluency of Ideas 4.3
Written Comprehension 4.1
Originality 4.1
Oral Comprehension 3.9
Near Vision 3.9
Oral Expression 3.8
Inductive Reasoning 3.4
Deductive Reasoning 3.1
Information Ordering 3.1
Category Flexibility 3.1
Selective Attention 3.0
Speech Recognition 3.0
Speech Clarity 3.0
Problem Sensitivity 2.9
Flexibility of Closure 2.8
Far Vision 2.8

Knowledge

English Language 4.7
Communications and Media 4.0
Computers and Electronics 3.4
Administrative 3.3
Sales and Marketing 3.2
Fine Arts 3.1
Psychology 2.8
History and Archeology 2.8
Sociology and Anthropology 2.6

Transferable skills

Judgment and Decision Making 3.3
Social Perceptiveness 3.1
Complex Problem Solving 3.1
Coordination 2.8
Persuasion 2.8
Time Management 2.8

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 44.

Tools & technology

Example Category
Adobe Acrobat Document management software Hot technology
Adobe Creative Cloud software Graphics or photo imaging software Hot technology
Adobe Illustrator Graphics or photo imaging software Hot technology
Adobe InDesign Desktop publishing software Hot technology
Adobe Photoshop Graphics or photo imaging software Hot technology
Facebook Web page creation and editing software Hot technology
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet software Hot technology
Microsoft Office software Office suite software Hot technology
Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation software Hot technology
Microsoft Word Word processing software Hot technology
WordPress Web page creation and editing software Hot technology
Apple iWork Pages Word processing software
Ashley Software Writer's Blocks Word processing software
AutoCrit Editing Wizard Word processing software
Bare Bones Software BBEdit Web page creation and editing software
Blogger Web page creation and editing software
Contour Storyteller Word processing software
Google Drive Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Literature & Latte Scrivener Word processing software
MasterWriter Word processing software
OpenOffice.org Office suite software
Power Structure Word processing software
Ravenshead Services WriteItNow Word processing software
Red Sweater MarsEdit Web page creation and editing software
RoughDraft Word processing software
ScriptPerfection Power Writer Word processing software
Skype Desktop communications software
Social media software Web page creation and editing software
Storymind StoryWeaver Word processing software
Text to speech software Text to speech conversion software
Tumblr Web page creation and editing software
WhiteSmoke Word processing software
Write Brothers Dramatica Word processing software
WriteWay Pro Word processing software
YouTube Video creation and editing software

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.

Spend Time Sitting 4.6
Freedom to Make Decisions 4.6
Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals 4.6
E-Mail 4.5
Level of Competition 4.3
Importance of Repeating Same Tasks 3.8
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate 3.6
Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls 3.5
Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions 3.4
Written Letters and Memos 3.3
Telephone Conversations 3.3
Time Pressure 3.2
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled 2.9
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams 2.9
Contact With Others 2.7
Public Speaking 2.3
Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results 2.3
Conflict Situations 1.9
Deal With External Customers or the Public in General 1.9
Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People 1.9
Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team 1.9
Frequency of Decision Making 1.9
Spend Time Standing 1.8
Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers 1.7
Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities 1.6
In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment 1.6
Consequence of Error 1.6
Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable 1.4
Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled 1.4
Physical Proximity 1.4
Degree of Automation 1.3
Health and Safety of Other Workers 1.3
Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions 1.2
Dealing with Violent or Physically Aggressive People 1.2
Spend Time Walking or Running 1.1
Outdoors, Under Cover 1.1
Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures 1.1
Exposed to Contaminants 1.1
Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment 1.1
Exposed to Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting Conditions 1.1

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.

Bachelor's Degree 31.8%
Some College Courses 27.3%
Less than a High School Diploma 13.6%
High School Diploma 9.1%
Master's Degree 9.1%
First Professional Degree 9.1%

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Artistic 7.0
Investigative 3.6
Enterprising 3.2
Conventional 2.9
Social 2.8

Interest areas

Creative Writing 7.0
Humanities 6.2
Media 5.4
Performing Arts 3.3
Music 3.3
Public Speaking 2.9
Applied Arts and Design 2.8
Marketing/Advertising 2.3

Work styles

Intellectual Curiosity 4.0
Innovation 3.0
Achievement Orientation 3.0

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

$41k10th$53k25th$72kMedian$98k75th$134k90th
Annual wages by percentile — U.S. (BLS OEWS). The light band spans the 10th–90th percentile; the darker band is the middle half (25th–75th); the line is the median.
135k2024140k2034 (proj.)+3.6% · About average
Projected U.S. employment, 2024–2034 (BLS Employment Projections). A labor-market forecast for the occupation, not an AI-impact forecast.
10th percentile $41,080
25th percentile $52,890
Median (50th) $72,270
75th percentile $98,320
90th percentile $133,680
People employed 47,800

Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 27-3043), not for the specialty alone.

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

Part of the Arts, Entertainment, & Design career cluster.

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers sits at the 88th percentile of AI task-overlap and the 62nd percentile of median pay, placed here against 11 adjacent occupations on the same two axes. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators Music Directors and Composers Producers and Directors Art Directors English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary Technical Writers Proofreaders and Copy Markers AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
AI task-overlap percentile (horizontal) vs. median-pay percentile (vertical), across all scored occupations. This occupation is highlighted; related occupations are plotted alongside it. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation.

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 Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers — 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.

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

Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers show 88th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 13,400 annual U.S. openings

  • Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers rank in the 88th 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)
  • Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 46% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census.2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2
Copy the whole kit
Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers show 88th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 13,400 annual U.S. openings

• Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers rank in the 88th 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))
• Of the AI use actually observed for this work, 46% looks like augmentation (drafting, iterating, checking) rather than hands-off automation — from a Claude.ai usage sample, not a census. (2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2)

Source: Singulariki — "Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-05
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.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers." 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-27-3043-05

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-27-3043-05

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-role-27-3043-05,
  title  = {Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers},
  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-27-3043-05}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.

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