Photographers
audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators
Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators operate and assist with still, cine and television cameras, operate other equipment to record, manipulate and project sound and vision for entertainment, cultural, commercial and industrial purposes and operate drones to provide aerial video and photographs.
- Employees (UK)
- 21k
- Median annual pay
- £30,396
- Exposure score ?
- 1.4/10 Minimal 7.7/10 High strict reading, with tools is 7.7/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.4/10
- Wage exposure
- £89m £492m
Higher exposure than 66% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of the routine work in this role can already be done by a capable model. The role does not disappear, but its shape changes, and one person can credibly cover the work of several.
If you are in this role
Stop spending time on what a model can do well. Your value is judgement, relationships and the parts of the work that need you in the room. Redesign the workflow around that before someone else does it for you.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
-
Maintain inventories of audio and videotapes and related supplies.
-
Perform narration of productions or present announcements.
-
Inform users of audio and videotaping service policies and procedures.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
-
Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
-
Compress, digitize, duplicate, and store audio and video data.
-
Install, adjust, and operate electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Audio and Video Technicians" (27-4011.00).
What AI can already do
5 of 29 tasks, unaided
Maintain inventories of audio and videotapes and related supplies.
Perform narration of productions or present announcements.
Inform users of audio and videotaping service policies and procedures.
Analyze and maintain data logs for audio-visual activities.
Develop manuals, texts, workbooks, or related materials for use in conjunction with production materials or for training.
What still needs a person
24 of 29 tasks
Notify supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
Direct and coordinate activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
Compress, digitize, duplicate, and store audio and video data.
Install, adjust, and operate electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
Monitor incoming and outgoing pictures and sound feeds to ensure quality and notify directors of any possible problems.
Control the lights and sound of events, such as live concerts, before and after performances, and during intermissions.
Mix and regulate sound inputs and feeds or coordinate audio feeds with television pictures.
Switch sources of video input from one camera or studio to another, from film to live programming, or from network to local programming.
Record and edit audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.
Perform minor repairs and routine cleaning of audio and video equipment.
Construct and position properties, sets, lighting equipment, and other equipment.
Reserve audio-visual equipment and facilities, such as meeting rooms.
Design layouts of audio and video equipment and perform upgrades and maintenance.
Determine formats, approaches, content, levels, and mediums to effectively meet objectives within budgetary constraints, using research, knowledge, and training.
Edit videotapes by erasing and removing portions of programs and adding video or sound as required.
Obtain, set up, and load videotapes for scheduled productions or broadcasts.
Produce rough and finished graphics and graphic designs.
Locate and secure settings, properties, effects, and other production necessities.
Meet with directors and senior members of camera crews to discuss assignments and determine filming sequences, camera movements, and picture composition.
Obtain and preview musical performance programs prior to events to become familiar with the order and approximate times of pieces.
Conduct training sessions on selection, use, and design of audio-visual materials and on operation of presentation equipment.
Plan and develop pre-production ideas into outlines, scripts, story boards, and graphics, using own ideas or specifications of assignments.
Organize and maintain compliance, license, and warranty information related to audio and video facilities.
Tasks via O*NET "Audio and Video Technicians" (27-4011.00).
What AI can already do
23 of 29 tasks, with tools
Diagnose and resolve media system problems.
Compress, digitize, duplicate, and store audio and video data.
Install, adjust, and operate electronic equipment to record, edit, and transmit radio and television programs, motion pictures, video conferencing, or multimedia presentations.
Monitor incoming and outgoing pictures and sound feeds to ensure quality and notify directors of any possible problems.
Control the lights and sound of events, such as live concerts, before and after performances, and during intermissions.
Mix and regulate sound inputs and feeds or coordinate audio feeds with television pictures.
Switch sources of video input from one camera or studio to another, from film to live programming, or from network to local programming.
Record and edit audio material, such as movie soundtracks, using audio recording and editing equipment.
Reserve audio-visual equipment and facilities, such as meeting rooms.
Design layouts of audio and video equipment and perform upgrades and maintenance.
Determine formats, approaches, content, levels, and mediums to effectively meet objectives within budgetary constraints, using research, knowledge, and training.
Edit videotapes by erasing and removing portions of programs and adding video or sound as required.
Obtain, set up, and load videotapes for scheduled productions or broadcasts.
Produce rough and finished graphics and graphic designs.
Locate and secure settings, properties, effects, and other production necessities.
Maintain inventories of audio and videotapes and related supplies.
Obtain and preview musical performance programs prior to events to become familiar with the order and approximate times of pieces.
Perform narration of productions or present announcements.
Plan and develop pre-production ideas into outlines, scripts, story boards, and graphics, using own ideas or specifications of assignments.
Inform users of audio and videotaping service policies and procedures.
Organize and maintain compliance, license, and warranty information related to audio and video facilities.
Analyze and maintain data logs for audio-visual activities.
Develop manuals, texts, workbooks, or related materials for use in conjunction with production materials or for training.
What still needs a person
6 of 29 tasks
Notify supervisors when major equipment repairs are needed.
Direct and coordinate activities of assistants and other personnel during production.
Perform minor repairs and routine cleaning of audio and video equipment.
Construct and position properties, sets, lighting equipment, and other equipment.
Meet with directors and senior members of camera crews to discuss assignments and determine filming sequences, camera movements, and picture composition.
Conduct training sessions on selection, use, and design of audio-visual materials and on operation of presentation equipment.
Stay on top of this.
An email when there is something worth reading: what is real in AI at work, what is noise, and what operators are doing about it.
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Related occupations.
Other roles in Associate professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons