Matt Watson's Content Portfolio

Last week I met with a fellow writer for some career advice. We got to talking, and almost immediately I shared my concerns about AI. “I feel like AI is taking a lot of jobs. As a tech writer, I’m especially worried about its impact on my profession over the next couple of years.” 

He nodded thoughtfully, admitted that AI is having a big impact on the jobs market, and then offered something I hadn’t really considered: “Well, have you researched how exactly AI is impacting you?” I admitted that I hadn’t. I think I was already so frustrated with what I’d seen of AI, and with my current prolonged job search, that I hadn’t taken time to do the research. So, I took some time to do just that. 

Big Picture

I started with the broad question of, “How many jobs are being displaced by AI?” This led me to the Forbes article These Jobs Will Fall First As AI Takes Over The Workplace.

• One study (McKinsey, 2023) projected that by 2030 around 30% of U.S. jobs could be automated, and that around 60% would be significantly altered by AI.
• Another study (Goldman Sachs, 2023) predicted that around 50% of U.S. jobs could be automated by the year 2045. 
• Jobs like bookkeeping and basic data entry are some of the most vulnerable. While jobs like teaching, which require a greater degree of emotional intelligence, are less vulnerable.
• Copywriting and basic journalism, the fields in the article most closely related to what I do, are vulnerable due to easy access to tools like DALL-E and Chat GPT.
  • The article went on to cite a 2024 Pew Research Center report which stated that by 2035 approximately 30% of media jobs could be automated. 

Another article, How Will AI Affect the Global Workforce? (Goldman Sachs, 2025), offered further insight into the projected impact of AI.

• If current AI solutions were adopted, and applied, across the U.S. then AI could displace between 6-7% of the U.S. workforce. 
• Their findings agreed with the Forbes article that some of the fields most at risk were computer programmers, accountants, and customer service representatives. 

However, the Goldman Sachs article also offered some optimistic insights as well.

• The impact of AI is largely dependent on its adoption. As such, the impact could be lesser should businesses and consumers change their rate of adoption. 
• They believe that “…AI adoption is expected to have only a modest and relatively temporary impact on employment levels.”
• They pointed out that many of the jobs displaced by AI could be recouped by new jobs needed to train and sustain AI. 

So, while not all bad news, my research largely confirmed my thoughts that AI is currently having a significant impact on the jobs market. It also appears that this impact is likely to increase over the coming years. 

But What About Tech Writers?

However, I wanted some more information on how AI was impacting tech writing specifically. While I struggled to find hard data, I did find several sources that provided optimistic thoughts. 

• “AI is not replacing technical writers; it’s amplifying their capabilities. By automating repetitive tasks, ensuring compliance, and enhancing consistency, AI allows writers to focus on higher-value work—crafting clear, user-centric documentation that enhances the customer experience.”
  • How AI is Transforming Technical Writing and Documentation (Vermeulen, 2025)
• The Effects of AI in Technical Writing (Salman, 2024) pointed out many of the ways AI can be applied to technical writing. It pointed out that it could be used for things like content generation, grammar checking, translation, and more.
  • It largely paints an optimistic picture of how, hopefully, tech writers can leverage AI to produce more content, of a higher quality, faster. 

Conclusion

So, is AI coming for your job? Maybe? I think it depends largely on what you do and what industry you’re in. Undoubtedly, we’re seeing more and more the impact of AI as industries across the world look to incorporate it into their spaces.

One thing seems certain, AI is not going away anytime soon. As such, I think everyone owes it to themselves to learn as much as they can about AI and how it’s likely to impact their career. At its best, I think AI can help you level-up your skills. At its worst, I think AI will replace—or heavily augment—many jobs. Being informed will allow you to prepare yourself and remain flexible in an ever changing jobs market.