Craft Artists

Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (2)

Lower estimated automation risk

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Why it fits

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Why it fits

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Alternative careers

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

30% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Very important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Working directly with the public

Quite important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 186 votes

40% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted they are unsure if this occupation will be automated. However, employees may be able to find reassurance in the automated risk level we have generated, which shows 30% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Craft Artists will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Craft Artists was $38,480 ($18 per hour).

The median annual wage for Craft Artists was 22.3% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Moderate growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Craft Artists' job openings is expected to rise 2.1% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 4,370 people employed as 'Craft Artists' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 35 thousand people are employed as 'Craft Artists'.

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What people are saying (14)

Leave a comment
T (No chance)
11 Sep 2024 17:05
While robots might be able to build things with precision (more precision than humans ever could), they lack the human soul, mind & creativity that makes pieces of art what they are. I don’t think that robots can replace human artisans, at least not in the next two decades.
… (Moderate)
24 May 2025 13:40
Robots are stealing art and artists jobs. However, they are not creative.
Bells
13 Nov 2025 06:35
For painters, hand illustrators, or anything on a canvas, that carries a moderate risk. Ai has the ability to copy that unfortunately.

However, for inventions and 3D crafted items (pottery, crochet, resin, jewelry, etc) there's a low to no risk. That's what I do, so I am safe. The biggest enemy are dropshippers.
black leg sanji (No chance)
24 Mar 2025 20:24
human art will always persevere!
Dyan (Moderate)
11 Jul 2024 06:05
I still see hope, because art is for the living, and i, even if alone, will try and prove that...
Someguy (Highly likely)
01 Jul 2024 20:32
Theres so much ai art many of us cant even tell if an art piece is made by real people or not
Nina (No chance)
12 Nov 2019 07:41
because there is no way to replace human in craft and art
Thunder
01 Jul 2024 20:19
The Ai getting over art is ridicoulus.They can even show feelings.
Chase
24 May 2024 13:19
No way, AI is already too far. It is NOT going to take away my personal hobbies
mary (Low)
15 Oct 2023 21:02
machines dont and will never have the art vision that humans can create
Kate (No chance)
19 Dec 2022 20:57
Crochet is the only manual activity that robots still can't replicate. Not even a simple plaid or a summer shirt has been made by AI to this day.
Patriciooo (Highly likely)
17 Feb 2022 02:51
The rise of text-to-image based AI like DALL-E makes it worrying how easy it is for a computer to generate good-looking images. Makes me believe artificial intelligence is only a few steps away from becoming truly creative.
Matthew Watson (No chance)
04 Apr 2019 16:31
I honestly do believe craft artist are safe they have to create new ideas to make different pieces of art. Some parts could be automated but it would only make their jobs easier. Ultimately they are the ones creating art
Rei (No chance)
20 Apr 2022 13:35
Humans like the unknowns, and their value of arts is about that. Because arts is about imagination, which most AI won't have, since they will be based on experience they are programmed with.

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Job description

Create or reproduce handmade objects for sale and exhibition using a variety of techniques, such as welding, weaving, pottery, and needlecraft.

O*NET-SOC code: 27-1012.00