AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Technical Writers?

Task-level automation exposure for Technical Writers: 15 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

71% weighted task index

15 of 15 tasks scored

Median Salary

$90,390 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

45,500 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+0.8% employment change

3,200 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 46 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$46,950 – $122,320

Highest medians

New Jersey $122,320

District of Columbia $117,810

Massachusetts $109,200

Washington $104,070

California $104,000

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $46,950

Arkansas $61,180

South Dakota $63,350

Louisiana $63,790

Mississippi $65,220

State figures come from the 27-3042 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 71%

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 55%

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

Routine administration 15%

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 0/100 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

15 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) 79%

11 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 21%

4 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 0%

0 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

#3966 · Core · 82% automatable

Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.

text generation — Technical documentation compilation, human reviews accuracy

Compile technical information or documentation. Edit written materials.

#3967 · Core · 85% automatable

Maintain records and files of work and revisions.

data analysis — Maintain files and records in structured systems

Maintain records, documents, or other files.

#3968 · Core · 82% automatable

Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel.

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

Edit written materials.

#3977 · Core · 82% automatable

Analyze developments in specific field to determine need for revisions in previously published materials and development of new material.

information retrieval — AI tracks trends across sources continuously

Monitor current trends.

#3970 · Core · 82% automatable

Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding.

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

Edit written materials.

#3971 · Core · 72% automatable

Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material.

text generation — Content selection aided; audience judgment human

Determine presentation subjects or content.

#3969 · Core · 48% automatable

Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication.

interpersonal — Needs elicitation requires human rapport and judgment

Confer with clients to determine needs.

#3976 · Core · 65% automatable

Assist in laying out material for publication.

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

Design layouts for print publications.

#3972 · Supplemental · 66% automatable

Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail.

visual inspection — Technical drawing review aided, human verifies

Review details of technical drawings or specifications.

#3975 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material.

decision support — AI aids logistics planning; on-site event execution human

Coordinate logistics for productions or events.

#20243 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Develop or maintain online help documentation.

text generation — Write informational material from brief

Write informational material.

#3978 · Supplemental · 66% automatable

Review manufacturer's and trade catalogs, drawings and other data relative to operation, maintenance, and service of equipment.

visual inspection — Technical drawing review aided, human verifies

Review details of technical drawings or specifications.

#3973 · Supplemental · 50% automatable

Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and other material to become familiar with product technologies and production methods.

information retrieval — Literature scanning aided; hands-on prototyping human

Research new technologies.

#3974 · Supplemental · 62% automatable

Observe production, developmental, and experimental activities to determine operating procedure and detail.

text generation — Project plans drafted; scope and risk owned by humans

Develop operating strategies, plans, or procedures. Develop detailed project plans.

#3979 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Draw sketches to illustrate specified materials or assembly sequence.

visual inspection — AI aids illustrations; precise technical drawing human

Draw detailed or technical illustrations.

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Community Sentiment

Do you agree?

Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?

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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