Proofreader
| Median wage (USD) | 51120 |
|---|---|
| Projected employment growth (%) | -1 |
| AI exposure (%) | 60 |
| Maximum exposure (%) | 100 |
| Source | eloundou |
| What AI changes in this occupation | First-pass spelling, grammar and typographic correction, version-to-version comparison and control reading are automated Spotting inconsistencies, fact- and reference-checking and preparing the layout move to AI assistance, under supervision Judging an ambiguous passage, the relationship with the author and the editor, and accountability for the final sign-off remain human |
| Key skills | AI-assisted proofreading and correction · command of grammar, punctuation and typography rules · handling proof marks and proofs · fact- and reference-checking · document comparison and change-tracking tools · working with authors, editors and layout teams |
| Courses to get ahead | Grammar and Punctuation · Coursera · 2 weeks, about 10 hours per week · 92 · The core of the job: recognising and naming the error — agreement, tense, punctuation, sentence structure. AI suggests a correction; you must be able to say why it is right. Writing and Editing: Revising · Coursera · 1 week, about 10 hours per week · 90 · Revision as a craft: cutting, reordering and checking that every correction has actually been made — exactly the second task on this card, done by hand and justified. Introduction to Technical Writing · Coursera · 1 week, about 10 hours per week · 84 · The most accessible way out: documenting rather than correcting. The same demand for precision, a different clientele, and a median salary clearly above the proofreader's. Writing and Editing: Drafting · Coursera · 1 week, about 10 hours per week · 82 Generative AI for Everyone · Coursera · 3 weeks, 1-2 hours per week · 78 Write Professional Emails in English · Coursera · 2 weeks, about 10 hours per week · 74 |
| Occupations to pivot toward | Editor · 77920 · -1 · 65 Technical Writer · 90390 · 1 · 63 Translator / Interpreter · 59440 · 2 · 84 |
| Skills to acquire for the pivot | Eloundou measures this occupation's exposure at 60% (human β) and up to 100% (human ζ): marking copy, reading corrected proofs, recording omissions and inconsistencies, comparing two versions, checking the layout and doing documentary research are largely delegable to AI, but routing the marked proofs, consulting reference works, dealing with the author and the editor and writing original content remain human. The ζ of 100% — the highest in the repository, alongside the writer and the web designer — means every task in the job is at least partly transformable; the β of 60% says that today AI does close to two thirds of it without supervision. Within the repository, the proofreader sits between the court clerk (59) and the compliance officer (61), above the secretary and administrative assistant (57), the accountant (52) and the general office clerk (50), but far behind the translator (84) and the writer (81): this is less a writing job than a checking job, where AI excels at detection and leaves the decision. Method note: O*NET (43-9081.00 "Proofreaders and Copy Markers") lists eleven scored tasks and two emerging ones; the three most important are marking copy (93/100), reading corrected proofs (90/100) and recording omissions and inconsistencies (89/100), and the exposed/resistant split follows those importance scores. The GPT-4 self-rated series (β 98, ζ 100) is kept in expositionGpt4 and is not displayed, in line with the decision of 21 August 2026. BLS projects a 1% decline from 2025 to 2035 for proofreaders and copy markers (SOC 43-9081): their 8,500 jobs in 2025 would fall by about 100. The occupation has no dedicated Occupational Outlook Handbook page: the figures come from the same OOH's "Data for occupations not covered in detail" page, where it appears in the "Office and administrative support occupations" section, with a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education and no work experience or on-the-job training required. For comparison, all occupations grow 3% over the same period; editors also decline (-1%), while technical writers (+1%) and interpreters and translators (+2%) hold up slightly better. The card therefore describes a shift rather than a disappearance: mechanical correction goes to AI, validation and the editorial relationship stay. The proofreader's median salary is $51,120 a year: the May 2025 figure from the BLS OEWS survey, published on the Occupational Outlook Handbook page for occupations not covered in detail (code 43-9081). That page publishes neither an hourly rate nor percentiles for this occupation — so the card shows no 10th and 90th percentile, and no value was estimated to fill that gap. For context: all occupations stand at $50,980, barely less than the proofreader, while this card's three pivots are clearly better paid — translator $59,440 (+2%), editor $77,920 (-1%) and technical writer $90,390 (+1%). Note that the BLS definition for this code excludes workers whose primary duty is editing copy: the wage is about proofreading, not editing. |
| GPT-4 exposure — beta / zeta (%) | 98 · 100 |