AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Editors?

Task-level automation exposure for Editors: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

63% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$77,920 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

91,690 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-1.1% employment change

7,900 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 51 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$39,640 – $101,480

Highest medians

New York $101,480

California $98,030

Connecticut $85,950

District of Columbia $83,920

Massachusetts $83,170

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $39,640

Texas $45,950

Nebraska $46,320

Wyoming $46,710

Maine $50,180

State figures come from the 27-3041 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 63%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 0%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 70%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 6%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 2/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 61%

13 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 26%

6 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 12%

3 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#1780 · Core · 85% automatable

Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.

data analysis — Data accuracy verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of data.

#24025 · Core · 63% automatable

Write text, such as headlines, stories, articles, editorials, or newsletters.

text generation — Write informational material from brief

Write informational material. Write articles, books or other original materials in area of expertise. Write material for artistic or entertainment purposes.

#1777 · Core · 82% automatable

Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#1776 · Core · 82% automatable

Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#1782 · Core · 72% automatable

Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#1778 · Core · 65% automatable

Allocate print space for story text, photos, and illustrations according to space parameters and copy significance, using knowledge of layout principles.

visual inspection — Produces layouts; print production and brand fit human

Design layouts for print publications.

#1784 · Core · 58% automatable

Confer with management and editorial staff members regarding placement and emphasis of developing news stories.

interpersonal — Ongoing production discussion requires shared human context

Discuss production content and progress with others.

#1783 · Core · 30% automatable

Oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements.

interpersonal — Coordinating production personnel is live supervisory work

Coordinate activities of production personnel.

#1789 · Core · 39% automatable

Supervise and coordinate work of reporters and other editors.

interpersonal — Real-time coworker coordination is relational work

Confer with coworkers to coordinate work activities. Supervise employees.

#1785 · Core · 55% automatable

Assign topics, events and stories to individual writers or reporters for coverage.

interpersonal — Coordinating editors needs human scheduling and persuasion

Coordinate reporting or editing activities.

#1787 · Core · 45% automatable

Monitor news-gathering operations to ensure utilization of all news sources, such as press releases, telephone contacts, radio, television, wire services, and other reporters.

decision support — Content curation aided; editorial accountability human

Manage content of broadcasts or presentations.

#1781 · Core · 82% automatable

Review and approve proofs submitted by composing room prior to publication production.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#24026 · Core · 67% automatable

Respond to questions from the public.

text generation — Written correspondence to customers is largely automatable

Respond to customer inquiries. Answer customer questions about goods or services. Correspond with customers to answer questions or resolve complaints.

#1779 · Core · 65% automatable

Plan the contents of publications according to the publication's style, editorial policy, and publishing requirements.

visual inspection — Produces layouts; print production and brand fit human

Design layouts for print publications.

#1786 · Core · 82% automatable

Read, evaluate and edit manuscripts or other materials submitted for publication, and confer with authors regarding changes in content, style or organization, or publication.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#1791 · Core · 72% automatable

Select local, state, national, and international news items received from wire services, based on assessment of items' significance and interest value.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#1793 · Core · 28% automatable

Direct the policies and departments of newspapers, magazines and other publishing establishments.

interpersonal — Managing arts departments is creative leadership and relationships

Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.

#1788 · Core · 58% automatable

Meet frequently with artists, typesetters, layout personnel, marketing directors, and production managers to discuss projects and resolve problems.

interpersonal — Ongoing production discussion requires shared human context

Discuss production content and progress with others.

#1792 · Core · 34% automatable

Interview and hire writers and reporters or negotiate contracts, royalties, and payments for authors or freelancers.

interpersonal — Service negotiation needs live bargaining authority

Negotiate for services. Audition or interview potential performers or staff members. Select staff, team members, or performers.

#1795 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Read material to determine index items and arrange them alphabetically or topically, indicating page or chapter location.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#1790 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Make manuscript acceptance or revision recommendations to the publisher.

text generation — AI edits prose well; human owns voice and final judgment

Edit written materials.

#1794 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Arrange for copyright permissions.

decision support — Legal permissions need counsel and formal filings

Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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