Will AI replace Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators?
Estimated risk score: 42 out of 100
Lower replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (23 to 61).
Illustrator? We score that job by hand: 85/100
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 32 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 27-1013.00 · Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 4 of its 32 rated tasks; the first 3 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain portfolios of artistic work to demonstrate styles, interests, and abilities.
- Market artwork through brochures, mailings, or Web sites.
- Trace drawings onto clear acetate for painting or coloring, or trace them with ink to make final copies.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 6 of its 32 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Apply solvents and cleaning agents to clean surfaces of paintings, and to remove accretions, discolorations, and deteriorated varnish.
- Create sculptures, statues, and other three-dimensional artwork by using abrasives and tools to shape, carve, and fabricate materials such as clay, stone, wood, or metal.
- Cut, bend, laminate, arrange, and fasten individual or mixed raw and manufactured materials and products to form works of art.
- Frame and mat artwork for display or sale.
- Model substances such as clay or wax, using fingers and small hand tools to form objects.
- Teach artistic techniques to children or adults.
What the job is
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and techniques.
Also called: Sculptor, Fine Artist, Muralist, Delineator, Ice Carver, Printmaker, VFX Artist, Oil Painter.
Scored by hand
We score Illustrator (85) by hand: a related job, so the numbers can differ.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate