Are Designers, All Others at Risk Due to AI?

All designers not listed separately.

The occupation "Designers, All Other" has been assigned an automation risk of 0.0%, indicating that the core tasks involved in this role are highly resilient to automation technologies. The base risk of 0.0% reflects the significant degree of creative problem-solving, artistic vision, and context-sensitive decision-making required in this line of work. While automation excels at handling repetitive, rule-based activities, design work often calls for innovation, empathy, and adaptability to changing user needs—characteristics that artificial intelligence and robotics currently struggle to replicate. Even as digital tools can support designers with technical and logistical tasks, the overall process remains centered around human ingenuity and subjective judgment. Despite low automation risk, there are still aspects of the design role that are more susceptible to automation. The top three most automatable tasks for "Designers, All Other" include: (1) repetitive formatting and layout adjustments using software tools, (2) batch rendering or conversion of design files, and (3) automated generation of simple design elements or templates. These tasks can be streamlined and accelerated with existing technology, freeing designers to focus on higher-level responsibilities. Automation in these areas is already prevalent, but it serves to augment rather than replace the occupation, reflecting the nuanced, human-centered nature of design work overall. Conversely, the top three tasks most resistant to automation are: (1) conceptualizing original design solutions for unique problems, (2) interpreting ambiguous client requirements and transforming them into visual or experiential concepts, and (3) integrating feedback from multidisciplinary teams into holistic design outcomes. These tasks demand advanced bottleneck skills such as creative thinking (Level 5/5), visual communication (Level 5/5), and complex problem-solving (Level 5/5). Mastery in these domains is difficult for automated systems to replicate, as it relies on intuition, cultural understanding, and emotional intelligence. As a result, the occupational future of designers remains robustly human-centric, with their value deriving from uniquely human capacities.