Will AI replace Producers and Directors?
Work in Producers and Directors sits in the in-between: AI reaches some of it (~47% in theory) but is only measured doing about 9% today — part human, part machine.
O*NET-SOC 27-2012
How your 55 core tasks split
Top = what GPT-4 judged AI could speed up. Bottom = how much AI was actually used for these tasks (Anthropic's March 2026 report, usage from Aug & Nov 2025). The gap is the real story.
Back in 2023, GPT-4 judged AI could, in theory, assist with a moderate share of this job's tasks (~47%). By late 2025, real-world AI use had reached about 9% of its task activity (growing but still limited). The gap between that 2023 forecast and today is the real story.
Where this job sits among 738 jobs
Each dot is one of 738 U.S. jobs. Right = AI can do more of it. Up = AI is actually used more.
The signals here line up
Theoretical reach (~47%), real-world use (~9%) and the task-level picture mostly agree — so this read is more reliable than for jobs where the signals contradict each other. Even so, AI-risk estimates shift by model (a 2026 study saw the "high-risk" share swing 2.7%–51.5%), so treat these as directional, not destiny.
See all 55 tasks, ratedBased on real task-level AI scores — click to collapse
- Consult with writers, producers, or actors about script changes or "workshop" scripts, through rehearsal with writers and actors to create final drafts.
- Compile scripts, program notes, and other material related to productions.
- Check completed program logs for accuracy and conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations and resolve program log inaccuracies.
- Develop ideas for programs and features that a station could produce.
- Prepare actors for auditions by providing scripts and information about roles and casting requirements.
- Plan details such as framing, composition, camera movement, sound, and actor movement for each shot or scene.
- Research production topics using the internet, video archives, and other informational sources.
- Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
- Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.
- Confer with technical directors, managers, crew members, and writers to discuss details of production, such as photography, script, music, sets, and costumes.
- Perform management activities, such as budgeting, scheduling, planning, and marketing.
- Identify and approve equipment and elements required for productions, such as scenery, lights, props, costumes, choreography, and music.
- Establish pace of programs and sequences of scenes according to time requirements and cast and set accessibility.
- Coordinate the activities of writers, directors, managers, and other personnel throughout the production process.
- Obtain rights to scripts or to such items as existing video footage.
- Plan and schedule programming and event coverage, based on broadcast length, time availability, and other factors, such as community needs, ratings data, and viewer demographics.
- Coordinate activities between departments, such as news and programming.
- Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in broadcast news, sports, or programming.
- Monitor and review programming to ensure that schedules are met, guidelines are adhered to, and performances are of adequate quality.
- Establish work schedules and assign work to staff members.
- Monitor network transmissions for advisories concerning daily program schedules, program content, special feeds, or program changes.
- Prepare copy and edit tape so that material is ready for broadcasting.
- Evaluate new and existing programming to assess suitability and the need for changes, using information such as audience surveys and feedback.
- Develop promotions for current programs and specials.
- Perform personnel duties, such as hiring staff and evaluating work performance.
- Act as a liaison between talent and directors, providing information that performers or guests need to prepare for appearances and communicating relevant information from guests, performers, or staff to directors.
- Review information about programs and schedules to ensure accuracy and provide such information to local media outlets.
- Select, acquire, and maintain programs, music, films, and other needed materials and obtain legal clearances for their use as necessary.
- Audition and interview performers to match their attributes to specific roles or to increase the pool of available acting talent.
- Select performers for roles or submit lists of suitable performers to producers or directors for final selection.
- Contact agents and actors to provide notification of audition and performance opportunities and to set up audition times.
- Serve as liaisons between directors, actors, and agents.
- Negotiate contract agreements with performers, with agents, or between performers and agents or production companies.
- Arrange for or design screen tests or auditions for prospective performers.
- Review performer information, such as photos, resumes, voice tapes, videos, and union membership, to decide whom to audition for parts.
- Maintain talent files that include information such as performers' specialties, past performances, and availability.
- Read scripts and confer with producers to determine the types and numbers of performers required for a given production.
- Attend or view productions to maintain knowledge of available actors.
- Switch between video sources in a studio or on multi-camera remotes, using equipment such as switchers, video slide projectors, and video effects generators.
- Observe pictures through monitors and direct camera and video staff concerning shading and composition.
- Supervise and assign duties to workers engaged in technical control and production of radio and television programs.
- Monitor broadcasts to ensure that programs conform to station or network policies and regulations.
- Operate equipment to produce programs or broadcast live programs from remote locations.
- Act as liaisons between engineering and production departments.
- Collaborate with promotions directors to produce on-air station promotions.
- Confer with operations directors to formulate and maintain fair and attainable technical policies for programs.
- Schedule use of studio and editing facilities for producers and engineering and maintenance staff.
- Communicate to actors the approach, characterization, and movement needed for each scene in such a way that rehearsals and takes are minimized.
- Direct live broadcasts, films and recordings, or non-broadcast programming for public entertainment or education.
- Supervise and coordinate the work of camera, lighting, design, and sound crew members.
- Conduct meetings with staff to discuss production progress and to ensure production objectives are attained.
- Resolve personnel problems that arise during the production process by acting as liaisons between dissenting parties when necessary.
- Confer with directors and production staff to discuss issues, such as production and casting problems, budgets, policies, and news coverage.
- Test equipment to ensure proper operation.
- Train workers in use of equipment, such as switchers, cameras, monitors, microphones, and lights.
How we measured this — and how fresh it is
AI's theoretical reach data: 2023
From GPTs-are-GPTs (Eloundou et al.), where GPT-4 rated how much of each task an AI tool could meaningfully speed up. This is the most recent open, commercially-usable occupation-level potential dataset — it dates to 2023. Newer multi-model re-runs exist but swing wildly (one 2026 study saw "high-risk" jobs range 2.7%–51.5% by model) and aren't openly licensed, so we show the stable 2023 baseline and pair it with newer real-world data.
Real-world AI use 2026 report
From the Anthropic Economic Index, which observes how real Claude conversations map onto each occupation's tasks. Published in Anthropic's March 2026 labor-market report, based on usage measured in Aug & Nov 2025 (Sonnet 4 / 4.5).
Task list & ratings O*NET 30.3
Tasks come from O*NET 30.3. Each task's "AI can do / speeds up / still on you" tier uses the real task-level exposure scores from GPTs-are-GPTs (E1 / E2 / E0) — not a guess from keywords.
Sources: O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0) · GPTs-are-GPTs (MIT, 2023) · Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY, Aug & Nov 2025). Page compiled June 2026. "O*NET" is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor.
This page is for general informational purposes only and is not career, financial, or employment advice. AI exposure reflects research estimates of task overlap, not predictions about any individual's job, employer, or future employment.