UK AI Exposure · Professional occupations
Graphic and multimedia designers
Graphic and multimedia designers use illustrative, sound, visual and multimedia techniques to convey a message for information, entertainment, advertising, promotion or publicity purposes, and create special visual effects, 3D models and animations for computer games, film, interactive and other media.
- Employees (UK)
- 52k
- Median annual pay
- £31,236
- Exposure score ?
- 0.4/10 Minimal 10.0/10 Very high strict reading · with tools is 10.0/10 with-tools reading · strict is 0.4/10
- Wage exposure
- £65m £1.62bn
Higher exposure than 21% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's language models. Roles at this level are getting rebuilt - often not by disappearing, but by one person using AI to do three or five people's output.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You don't need to be afraid. You need to be the person doing the rebuilding. The operators who learn to direct AI at scale in this kind of work become hugely valuable. The ones who wait to be told what to do get told what to do - and that thing is often 'we don't need as many of you anymore.'
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where we start — flip the toggle to 'With tools' to see what AI plus the right context can compress.
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Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
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Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
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Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
These are the highest-importance tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these — usually the difference between an LLM that can technically do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
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Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
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Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
The full task breakdown
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
Tasks via O*NET "Graphic Designers" (27-1024.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 19 tasks · unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
Where humans still hold the line
19 of 19 tasks
Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites.
Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
Use computer software to generate new images.
Prepare digital files for printing.
Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design.
Research the target audience of projects.
Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer.
Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer.
Study illustrations and photographs to plan presentation of materials, products, or services.
Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products.
Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for printing.
Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or supervisors and making necessary changes.
Research new software or design concepts.
Produce still and animated graphics for on-air and taped portions of television news broadcasts, using electronic video equipment.
Photograph layouts, using camera, to make layout prints for supervisors or clients.
Write or edit copy for clients.
Tasks via O*NET "Graphic Designers" (27-1024.00).
What AI can already do
16 of 19 tasks · with tools
Key information into computer equipment to create layouts for client or supervisor.
Review final layouts and suggest improvements, as needed.
Determine size and arrangement of illustrative material and copy, and select style and size of type.
Develop graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and Web sites.
Create designs, concepts, and sample layouts, based on knowledge of layout principles and esthetic design concepts.
Use computer software to generate new images.
Confer with clients to discuss and determine layout design.
Draw and print charts, graphs, illustrations, and other artwork, using computer.
Mark up, paste, and assemble final layouts to prepare layouts for printer.
Study illustrations and photographs to plan presentation of materials, products, or services.
Maintain archive of images, photos, or previous work products.
Prepare notes and instructions for workers who assemble and prepare final layouts for printing.
Prepare illustrations or rough sketches of material, discussing them with clients or supervisors and making necessary changes.
Research new software or design concepts.
Produce still and animated graphics for on-air and taped portions of television news broadcasts, using electronic video equipment.
Photograph layouts, using camera, to make layout prints for supervisors or clients.
Where humans still hold the line
3 of 19 tasks
Prepare digital files for printing.
Research the target audience of projects.
Write or edit copy for clients.
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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