Understanding the Economics of AI: A Perspective for Technical Communicators
During a very well-attended IUNTC meeting on September 17th, Kirk St.Amant explored the impact of AI on employment and the profession of technical communication. Kirk is Professor and the Eunice C. Williamson Chair in Technical Communication at Louisiana Tech University where he serves as the Director of Louisiana Tech’s Center for Health and Medical Communication (CHMC) and oversees the Center's Health Experience Design Usability Lab.
Kirk’s central argument was that many organisations focus only on visible tasks rather than the deeper expertise, critical thinking, and contextual knowledge that underpin successful technical communication. This misunderstanding has contributed to AI-driven layoffs followed by rapid rehiring when organisations realise that AI cannot replace many of the essential human aspects of the role.
AI, Employment, and the “Boomerang” Effect
Kirk discussed a growing trend in which organisations lay off employees with a view to having their work replaced by AI tools, only to hire people back shortly afterwards. This occurs because managers often evaluate jobs based on observable tasks such as writing, editing, formatting, or information retrieval. Since AI can perform many of these tasks, it may initially seem that human workers are no longer necessary. However, organisations frequently discover that less visible but deeper activities required to achieve business goals depend on human expertise.
Technical communicators do much more than produce content. Their work includes identifying communication objectives, locating and evaluating information, collaborating with subject matter experts (SMEs), negotiating reviews, persuading stakeholders, and ensuring content is usable and effective. These activities are difficult to automate because they require judgement, context awareness, and interpersonal skills.
The Doorman Paradox
A key concept introduced was the Doorman Paradox (also called the “Doorman Fallacy”), originally coined by Rory Sutherland. The paradox illustrates the difference between perceived and actual value. Observers may believe a doorman's job is simply to open doors, leading to the assumption that automatic doors can replace the role. However, doormen provide many less visible services, such as offering directions, ensuring customer safety, recommending local services, assisting with luggage, and creating a positive customer experience. These activities contribute significantly to the value and reputation of an establishment.
Kirk argued that the same logic applies to technical communicators. Individuals outside the profession may only be aware of the tasks of writing and editing, while overlooking the critical thinking, contextual analysis, audience awareness, stakeholder engagement, and problem-solving that make communication effective.
Two Types of Work
On that basis, Kirk distinguished between two categories of tasks:
Explicit or Standardised Tasks
These are visible, teachable, repeatable activities. They are based on established processes and skills and form the foundation of professional practice. Examples include writing, editing, formatting, and applying established procedures. AI is increasingly capable of assisting with, and sometimes automating, these tasks.
Implicit or Contextual Tasks
These are acquired through experience and involve understanding audiences, contexts, organisational dynamics, and unexpected situations. They require critical thinking, relationship-building, judgement, and professional networks. These are the activities that create unique value and are much harder for AI to replicate. According to Kirk, success in modern organisations increasingly depends on demonstrating expertise in these contextual and value-adding activities.
Five Strategies for Technical Communicators
Kirk proposed five strategies for ensuring technical communicators remain valuable and influential in the AI era:
Conveying Value
Technical communicators should describe their work in terms of outcomes, collaboration, usability, and business impact rather than simply listing deliverables. For example, instead of saying “I produced a user manual,” they should highlight their collaboration with experts and their role in improving usability and product success.
Contributing Earlier in Product Development
Technical communicators possess valuable expertise in understanding users and contexts. By participating earlier in product development, they can help shape more usable products and contribute directly to product quality and market success.
Creating New Revenue Opportunities
Because technical communicators understand user behaviour, they can identify opportunities for ancillary products and services. Kirk described this as “lateral engineering”: recognising unmet user needs and proposing complementary products, services, or support offerings that generate additional revenue.
Reframing Professional Identity
Rather than presenting themselves primarily as communication specialists, technical communicators should position themselves as experts in understanding, analysing, and teaching human behaviour. Their true expertise lies in helping people successfully interact with technology and accomplish tasks.
Maximising Influence in AI Integration
Kirk argued that technical communicators are uniquely positioned to guide AI adoption because AI implementation is fundamentally about behaviour, workflow design, training, evaluation, and usability. Their expertise makes them ideal contributors to decisions about how AI should be integrated into organisational processes.
Discussion and Questions
A lively Q&A followed Kirk’s talk. Participants explored the role of pattern recognition, human judgement, and AI limitations. Kirk emphasised that AI works best with standardised tasks, while humans remain essential for handling exceptions, contextual decisions, and complex situations. He suggested that organisations should build effective “switching systems” that move work from AI to humans when specialised judgement is required.
The discussion also examined highly regulated sectors such as medical devices. Kirk argued that technical communicators can make particularly strong contributions in these environments by focusing on usability, patient understanding, and the needs of families and other stakeholders who are often overlooked.
On education, Kirk advocated teaching students how to use AI responsibly rather than banning it. Students should learn what AI can do well, where it fails, and how to evaluate and improve AI-generated outputs. This approach prepares graduates to make informed decisions in the workplace while also considering broader ethical and environmental implications.