Design special exhibits and movie, television, and theater sets. May study scripts, confer with directors, and conduct research to determine appropriate architectural styles.
U.S. Workers
10,850
Median Salary
$66,280
10-Year Growth
+2.3%
Annual Openings
2,500
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
27 of 27 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Prepare rough drafts and scale working drawings of sets, including floor plans, scenery, and properties to be constructed.
AI: Fully automatable - AI‑assisted CAD and generative design tools can prepare rough drafts and scale working drawings for sets, including floor plans and scenery, from design inputs.
Read scripts in order to determine location, set, and design requirements.
AI: Fully automatable - NLP models can read scripts and extract location, set, and design requirements and produce detailed requirement lists and concept proposals autonomously.
Prepare preliminary renderings of proposed exhibits, including detailed construction, layout, and material specifications, and diagrams relating to aspects such as special effects and/or lighting.
AI: Fully automatable - By 2025 generative design, CAD and rendering tools driven by AI can produce detailed preliminary renderings, layouts and material/specification diagrams suitable for design development.
Research architectural and stylistic elements appropriate to the time period to be depicted, consulting experts for information as necessary.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can comprehensively research architectural and stylistic elements and summarize expert literature or recommended sources, effectively fulfilling the research component of the task.
Select set props such as furniture, pictures, lamps, and rugs.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can select and source props from catalogs, match styles and budgets, and generate prioritized shopping lists and mockups, fully automating the selection phase in many production contexts.
Plan for location-specific issues such as space limitations, traffic flow patterns, and safety concerns.
AI: Fully automatable - Given site plans, scans, and relevant constraints, AI can fully analyze space limitations, simulate traffic/flow patterns, and identify safety concerns to produce compliant location-specific plans.
Estimate set- or exhibit-related costs including materials, construction, and rental of props or locations.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can access pricing databases, historical job data, and vendor quotes to produce reliable material, construction, and rental cost estimates programmatically.
Coordinate the removal of sets, props, and exhibits after productions or events are complete.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can fully coordinate teardown logistics by scheduling crews, booking vendors, assigning tasks, and tracking progress, even though human labor executes the physical removal.
Coordinate the transportation of sets that are built off-site, and coordinate their setup at the site of use.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can plan transport logistics, select carriers, manage permits, schedule deliveries, and coordinate setup crews end-to-end, enabling full coordination despite humans performing the physical handling.
Acquire, or arrange for acquisition of, specimens or graphics required to complete exhibits.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can source specimens and graphics, manage communications and licensing, arrange procurement and delivery, and handle transactional logistics, allowing acquisition to be fully automated in many cases.
Provide supportive materials for exhibits and displays, such as press kits and advertising, posters, brochures, catalogues, and invitations and publicity notices.
AI: Fully automatable - AI is already capable of producing high-quality press kits, ads, posters, brochures, catalogues, and invitations end-to-end, including copy, layout, and tailoring for channels.
Develop set designs based on evaluation of scripts, budgets, research information, and available locations.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze scripts, budgets, locations and generate viable conceptual set designs, but cannot fully replace the on‑site judgment, stakeholder negotiation, and real‑world adaptation required to complete the task autonomously in 2025.
Collaborate with those in charge of lighting and sound so that those production aspects can be coordinated with set designs or exhibit layouts.
AI: Partial - AI can simulate and coordinate lighting/sound plans digitally and flag conflicts, but real‑time on‑set collaboration and technical tuning with crews still require human presence and domain expertise.
Attend rehearsals and production meetings in order to obtain and share information related to sets.
AI: Partial - AI can attend remotely (transcribe, summarize, propose changes) and synthesize meeting input, but cannot physically be present for nuanced on‑the‑fly adjustments or interpersonal communication that happen in rehearsals and production meetings.
Confer with clients and staff in order to gather information about exhibit space, proposed themes and content, timelines, budgets, materials, and/or promotion requirements.
AI: Partial - AI can run intake interviews, synthesize client/staff requirements and flag constraints (space, budget, timeline), yet human rapport, negotiation and final decisions remain necessary.
Inspect installed exhibits for conformance to specifications, and satisfactory operation of special effects components.
AI: Partial - Automated visual inspection and sensor monitoring can detect many conformance and effects issues, but final verification of installation quality and complex special effects operation still often requires on‑site human inspection.
Assign staff to complete design ideas and prepare sketches, illustrations, and detailed drawings of sets, or graphics and animation.
AI: Partial - AI can recommend staffing assignments, schedule tasks and generate briefs for producing sketches and drawings, but final personnel decisions, team management and nuanced delegation remain human responsibilities.
Examine objects to be included in exhibits in order to plan where and how to display them.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze photos, dimensions and provenance data to propose display plans, yet tactile examination, condition assessment and conservation judgments still require human expertise on site.
Observe sets during rehearsals in order to ensure that set elements do not interfere with performance aspects such as cast movement and camera angles.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze rehearsal video and sensor data to detect potential obstructions and framing conflicts and flag issues, but it lacks full contextual judgment and on-the-spot decision-making authority, so it can assist but not fully replace human observation.
Submit plans for approval, and adapt plans to serve intended purposes, or to conform to budget or fabrication restrictions.
AI: Partial - AI can generate, adapt, and optimize plans to meet intended purposes, budgets, and fabrication limits and prepare submission-ready documents, but formal approvals and final adaptive choices typically require human sign-off and stakeholder negotiation.
Direct and coordinate construction, erection, or decoration activities in order to ensure that sets or exhibits meet design, budget, and schedule requirements.
AI: Partial - AI can create schedules, track progress, detect conflicts, and provide step-by-step guidance, but it cannot physically supervise crews or make nuanced real-time on-site judgments, so it only partially fulfils the directing/coordinating role.
Design and build scale models of set designs, or miniature sets used in filming backgrounds or special effects.
AI: Partial - AI can produce detailed digital scale models and fabrication-ready files for miniatures, but the physical building of models still requires human or robotic fabrication and hands-on finishing, meaning partial automation.
Select and purchase lumber and hardware necessary for set construction.
AI: Partial - AI can recommend appropriate lumber and hardware selections and place orders through integrated procurement systems, but it cannot inspect physical material quality or handle unexpected on-site substitutions, so selection and purchasing are only partially automatable.
Design and produce displays and materials that can be used to decorate windows, interior displays, or event locations such as streets and fairgrounds.
AI: Partial - AI can generate designs, technical specs, and production-ready files and coordinate manufacturing, but physical fabrication and on-site installation typically require human or manual robotic work and supervision.
Confer with conservators in order to determine how to handle an exhibit's environmental aspects, such as lighting, temperature, and humidity, so that objects will be protected and exhibits will be enhanced.
AI: Partial - AI can model environmental conditions and recommend lighting/temperature/humidity parameters based on conservation guidelines, but final decisions and nuanced on-site judgements require human conservators' expertise and accountability.
Incorporate security systems into exhibit layouts.
AI: Partial - AI can design security layouts, specify sensors/cameras, and simulate threat coverage, but installation, integration with physical systems, and compliance checks require human technicians and installers.
Arrange for outside contractors to construct exhibit structures.
AI: Partial - AI can automate contractor outreach, bidding comparisons, scheduling, and paperwork, yet negotiating, contractor selection, and on-site coordination still commonly need human oversight and relationship management.