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Illustrator — tasks, one by one
The unit of analysis is the task, not the job title. Each one below carries its direction, whether the judgement rests on evidence or on platform inference, the reasoning, and what it does not establish.
Every task on this page#
Editorial and commercial illustration
Automating≈ Platform inferenceIllustrating articles, advertising, packaging and marketing for clients.
US projections say illustrations generated by AI may compete with illustrators, and project that competition to reduce employment in that part of the fine-artists occupation; fine artists, including illustrators, are projected to decline 3 percent from 2025 to 2035.
A projection for a broader occupation that includes painters and sculptors; it does not measure commissions or fees for illustration.
Concept art and visual development
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backedDesigning characters, environments and the look of a film, series or game before production.
Studios are using generative AI here, under contract terms. In a manager survey commissioned by artists' organisations including the animation union, 39% of early adopters in film, television and animation said they were implementing generative AI in character and environment design. The animation union's agreement lets producers require employees to use AI systems, but says producers will not require an employee to provide prompts in a way that results in displacing a covered employee, and must give advance written notice.
A survey of managers at early adopters, commissioned by artists' organisations, and one US collective agreement; neither measures how many concept artists are employed.
Game art assets
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backedProducing characters, costumes, scenes and icons for games.
Game companies describe generated assets in their annual reports. Gamehaus, which sells the service, says developer partners can use a trained art-style model to produce characters, costumes, scenes and icons; NetEase says it integrates AI into art and animation production.
One company describing the service it sells and another describing its own workflow in general terms; neither says how many artists' hours changed.
Commissioned art for published products
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backedCreating final art for cards, books and games that a publisher commissions.
Some commissioners write the rule into their terms. Wizards of the Coast requires artists contributing to Magic and Dungeons & Dragons to refrain from using generative AI tools to create final products, and says it is piloting an AI detection tool.
One publisher's policy for its own products; other commissioners set different terms or none.
Rights and licensing
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backedLicensing artwork and protecting the rights in it.
US law protects only what a person authored. A federal appeals court held that the Copyright Act requires eligible work to be authored in the first instance by a human being, and the Copyright Office concludes that prompts alone do not give users enough control to be the authors of AI output.
US law and guidance only; other countries treat AI-assisted work differently, and none of this measures licensing income.