Job Check
Technical Writers
Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions. May assist in layout work.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.People already use AI for this at work
- 02Maintain records and files of work and revisions.AI could speed this up a lot
- 03Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other writers or establishment personnel.People already use AI for this at work
- 04Analyze developments in specific field to determine need for revisions in previously published materials and development of new material.People already use AI for this at work
- 05Review published materials and recommend revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of reproduction and binding.People already use AI for this at work
- 06Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to illustrate material.People already use AI for this at work
- 07Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication.Mostly human for now
- 08Assist in laying out material for publication.People already use AI for this at work
- 09Study drawings, specifications, mockups, and product samples to integrate and delineate technology, operating procedure, and production sequence and detail.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 10Arrange for typing, duplication, and distribution of material.AI could speed this up a lot
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job loss48%of this job’s work time goes to tasks that people already do with Claude at work, counting tasks where AI only helps as half (2026).Anthropic, 2026
70%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 99% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Confer with customer representatives, vendors, plant executives, or publisher to establish technical specifications and to determine subject material to be developed for publication.
AI tools for your work
Official connectors that let an AI assistant work inside the apps writers and editors use. Each is made by the app’s own maker.