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Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?
AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Photographers?
Task-level automation exposure for Photographers: 28 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
36%
weighted task index
28 of 28 tasks scored
Median Salary
$44,660 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
51,760 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-0.7%
employment change
10,700 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$32,810 – $110,970
Highest medians
District of Columbia $110,970
New York $60,050
Massachusetts $57,990
Oregon $53,630
Utah $52,140
Lowest medians
Arkansas $32,810
Idaho $33,320
Puerto Rico $34,060
Indiana $35,960
West Virginia $36,110
State figures come from the 27-4021 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 36%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 51%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 24%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 9%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 3%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 5/100
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
28 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) 32%
8 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 13%
5 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 54%
15 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- Revision 08/2021 · Occupational Expert
Engage in research to learn technological developments and techniques or to develop new photographic procedures and materials.
Replaced: Engage in research to develop new photographic procedures and materials.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Operate drones to capture aerial photographs and videos, following all regulatory guidelines.
Constituent Tasks
#9344 · Core · 6% automatable
Adjust apertures, shutter speeds, and camera focus according to a combination of factors, such as lighting, field depth, subject motion, film type, and film speed.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9346 · Core · 6% automatable
Create artificial light, using flashes and reflectors.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9347 · Core · 62% automatable
Determine desired images and picture composition, selecting and adjusting subjects, equipment, and lighting to achieve desired effects.
decision support — Technical requirements drafted; human owns spec
Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
#20558 · Core · 90% automatable
Transfer photographs to computers for editing, archiving, and electronic transmission.
data analysis — Format conversion fully automatable
Convert data among multiple digital or analog formats.
#9345 · Core · 18% automatable
Use traditional or digital cameras, along with a variety of equipment, such as tripods, filters, and flash attachments.
physical manipulation — Camera operation requires physical framing and handling
Operate still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9352 · Core · 60% automatable
Manipulate and enhance scanned or digital images to create desired effects, using computers and specialized software.
visual inspection — Generates CG and animation; art direction and rigging human
Create computer-generated graphics or animation.
#9343 · Core · 18% automatable
Take pictures of individuals, families, and small groups, either in studio or on location.
physical manipulation — Camera operation requires physical framing and handling
Operate still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9357 · Core · 5% automatable
Enhance, retouch, and resize photographs and negatives, using airbrushing and other techniques.
physical manipulation — Manual craft finishing work
Apply finishes to artwork, crafts, or displays.
#9349 · Core · 6% automatable
Test equipment prior to use to ensure that it is in good working order.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9351 · Core · 62% automatable
Estimate or measure light levels, distances, and numbers of exposures needed, using measuring devices and formulas.
decision support — Technical requirements drafted; human owns spec
Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
#9354 · Core · 78% automatable
Perform general office duties, such as scheduling appointments, keeping books, and ordering supplies.
data analysis — Maintain files and records in structured systems
Maintain records, documents, or other files. Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
#9350 · Core · 62% automatable
Review sets of photographs to select the best work.
visual inspection — Judging aesthetic quality needs human taste
Review art or design materials.
#9358 · Core · 6% automatable
Set up, mount, or install photographic equipment and cameras.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9355 · Core · 48% automatable
Determine project goals, locations, and equipment needs by studying assignments and consulting with clients or advertising staff.
interpersonal — Needs elicitation requires human rapport and judgment
Confer with clients to determine needs.
#9353 · Core · 18% automatable
Perform maintenance tasks necessary to keep equipment working properly.
physical manipulation — Hands-on maintenance of recording/broadcast gear
Maintain recording or broadcasting equipment.
#9356 · Core · 28% automatable
Select and assemble equipment and required background properties, according to subjects, materials, and conditions.
decision support — Prop selection depends on creative and physical context
Select materials or props. Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9361 · Core · 30% automatable
Direct activities of workers setting up photographic equipment.
interpersonal — Coordinating production personnel is live supervisory work
Coordinate activities of production personnel.
#9363 · Core · 50% automatable
Revision
Engage in research to develop new photographic procedures and materials.
information retrieval — Literature scanning aided; hands-on prototyping human
Research new technologies.
#9368 · Core · 8% automatable
Mount, frame, laminate, or lacquer finished photographs.
physical manipulation — Crafting physical objects is manual artisan work
Construct distinctive physical objects for artistic, functional, or commercial purposes.
#20561 · Supplemental · 48% automatable
Send film to photofinishing laboratories for processing.
text generation — Sending digital materials automatable; physical mailing human
Send information, materials or documentation. Prepare outgoing shipments.
#9366 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Develop visual aids and charts for use in lectures or to present evidence in court.
decision support — Prop selection depends on creative and physical context
Select materials or props.
#9365 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Load and unload film.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#20560 · Supplemental · 85% automatable
Write photograph captions.
text generation — Write informational material from brief
Write informational material.
#9364 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Set up photographic exhibitions for the purpose of displaying and selling work.
physical manipulation — Arranging props is physical placement work
Arrange artwork, products, or props.
#9360 · Supplemental · 90% automatable
Produce computer-readable, digital images from film, using flatbed scanners and photofinishing laboratories.
data analysis — Format conversion fully automatable
Convert data among multiple digital or analog formats.
#9362 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Employ a variety of specialized photographic materials and techniques, including infrared and ultraviolet films, macro photography, photogrammetry and sensitometry.
physical manipulation — Physical camera setup
Set up still or video cameras or related equipment.
#9367 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
License the use of photographs through stock photo agencies.
decision support — Legal permissions need counsel and formal filings
Obtain copyrights or other legal permissions.
#20559 · Supplemental · 13% automatable
Develop and print exposed film, using chemicals, touch-up tools, and developing and printing equipment.
physical manipulation — Developing and print equipment operated by hand
Prepare film for distribution or use. Operate photographic developing or print production equipment.
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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
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