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Professionals · code 2621

Archivists and curators

Archivists and curators collect, appraise and ensure the safekeeping and preservation of the contents of archives, artefacts and records of historical, cultural, administrative and artistic interest, and of art and other objects. They plan, devise and implement systems for the safekeeping of records and historically valuable documents. Tasks include - (a) evaluating and preserving records for administrative, historical, legal, evidential and other purposes; (b) directing or carrying out the preparation of indexes, bibliographies, microfilm copies and other reference aids to the collected material and making them available to users; (c) researching the origin, distribution and use of materials and objects of cultural and historical interest; (d) organizing, developing and maintaining collections of artistic, cultural, scientific or historically significant items; (e) directing or undertaking classification and cataloguing of museum and art gallery collections and organizing exhibitions; (f) researching into, appraising, organizing and preserving historically significant and valuable documents such as government papers, private papers, photographs, maps, manuscripts and audiovisual materials; (g) preparing scholarly papers and reports; (h) planning and implementing the computerized management of archives and electronic records; (i) organizing exhibitions at museums and art galleries, publicizing exhibits and arranging special displays for general, specialized or educational interest; (j) appraising and acquiring archival materials to build and develop an archival collection for research purposes. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Archivist - Art gallery curator - Museum curator - Records manager

A good share of the tasks are affected. It ranks 365 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • arts education officer
  • collection manager
  • exhibition curator
  • zoo registrar
  • conservator
  • mediation and education manager
  • archivist
  • museum scientist
  • exhibition registrar

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

52.7
Holds up
against AI Exposed: Gradient 2

AI could take on 47.3 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 47.3 = 52.7

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

42.6
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 2 US jobs

25.3
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 29.5 · hand skill 27.8 · cramped spaces 18.8 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 42.6 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 66.5, while the average is 47.3. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 66.5

    Planning and implementing the computerized management of archives and electronic records

    Medium
  2. 58.5

    Evaluating and preserving records for administrative, historical, legal, evidential and other purposes

    Medium
  3. 55.3

    Directing or carrying out the preparation of indexes, bibliographies, microfilm copies and other reference aids to the collected material and making them available to users

    Medium
  4. 54

    Preparing scholarly papers and reports

    Medium
  5. 46.5

    Researching into, appraising, organizing and preserving historically significant and valuable documents such as government papers, private papers, photographs, maps, manuscripts and audiovisual materials

    Low
  6. 46

    Researching the origin, distribution and use of materials and objects of cultural and historical interest

    Low
  7. 45

    Appraising and acquiring archival materials to build and develop an archival collection for research purposes.

    Low
  8. 35

    Organizing exhibitions at museums and art galleries, publicizing exhibits and arranging special displays for general, specialized or educational interest

    Low
  9. 34.5

    Directing or undertaking classification and cataloguing of museum and art gallery collections and organizing exhibitions

    Low
  10. 31.5

    Organizing, developing and maintaining collections of artistic, cultural, scientific or historically significant items

    Low

10 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
72.5
AI does it for you
41.5

Helping wins by 31 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2242, 2349

Compared with similar jobs

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.4. This one is below that.