Gallup finds AI not eliminating creative jobs despite exposure fears

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns about a potential negative impact on jobs in creative fields, but a new analysis finds that those jobs aren’t disappearing even as AI reshapes creative work.

A report by Gallup examined a study from the Journal of Cultural Economics, which found little evidence that generative AI has broadly reduced artists’ earnings based on data from the Gallup Workforce Panel and federal labor market data.

The analysis used a scoring system from a 2024 occupational exposure index to gauge how exposed a given job’s tasks are to generative AI – such as what tasks a large language model could plausibly perform or assist with.

Within artistic professions, exposure to AI varied widely. For example, music directors and composers had an exposure score of about 0.7, which implied that a substantial portion of their tasks involve composition or production that AI tools may help draft or modify; while special effects artists and animators had a score of 0.54 and disc jockeys, art directors and other producers and directors were around 0.5.

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The analysis found that AI isn’t causing the loss of artistic jobs, even as it factors into tasks for some roles. (recep-bg/Getty Images)

Among the artistic roles with less AI exposure were dancers, whose exposure score was about 0.04, while actors scored around 0.18, craft artists and choreographers were around 0.27 to 0.28. The primary work in these fields involves live presence, interpretation and physical skill that generative AI can’t easily substitute.

“The evidence does not show large negative effects when examining the impact of AI on jobs. Using employment and wage statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics between 2017 and 2024, earnings trends for artistic occupations with higher exposure to generative AI look broadly similar to those with lower exposure,” Gallup said. “The estimates are slightly positive, though they are not statistically distinguishable from zero.”

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Creative workers in some artistic professions are more exposed to AI tools than others. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The report noted that data around employment patterns was more mixed, with some highly exposed artistic occupations experiencing weaker job growth in 2023 relative to those with less exposure.

“Even so, the differences are modest and far from the widespread job losses that discussions of AI and job displacement often assume,” Gallup noted.

Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey also showed that artists in more AI-exposed occupations saw a modest rise in earnings in 2023 that faded somewhat in 2024. Around that period, total hours worked rose more clearly starting in…