# In the UK illustrators' association's 2026 survey, 46% knew they had lost work because a client chose generative AI, against 32% a year earlier

Page: https://flyvolo.ai/en/changes/ev-20261013-illustrator-9
Date: 2026-10-13 · Stage: Worker adoption
Can this record move a task judgement? only together with another independent record
Occupation: https://flyvolo.ai/en/careers/illustrator

## Scope

United Kingdom, illustrators answering their professional association's survey. The 2026 survey received 549 responses; the 2025 one is a separate sample, not the same people followed over time. 46% said they knew they had lost work because a client chose generative AI instead; 62% had received AI-generated images in briefs or mood boards and 36% had been asked to copy, refine or redraw them. By field, 50% in advertising and 49% in editorial reported clients using AI instead of commissioning. It is self-selected and self-reported, published by an association that campaigns on copyright, and it does not measure income or employment directly.

## Source

- Association of Illustrators (UK) — 'AI and the Future of Illustration: One year on', 2026 survey analysis (published 13 October 2026) — https://theaoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-AI-Survey-Analysis.pdf (primary source)

## What this means

Among UK illustrators who answered, almost half say a commission has already gone to an image generator, and generated images are common in the briefs they still get.

## What it does not show yet

A self-selected survey of 549 people by a campaigning association, with a different sample from the year before; it does not measure how much work or income was lost.

## How to verify it yourself

Open the AOI's 2026 survey analysis 'AI and the Future of Illustration — One year on' and find "lost work because a client chose generative AI instead".


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