The impact of AI on the workforce: Tasks versus jobs?

Kathryn Bonney, Cory Breaux, Catherine Buffington, Emin Dinlersoz, Lucia Foster, Nathan Goldschlag, John Haltiwanger, Zachary Kroff and Keith Savage

Economics Letters, 2024, vol. 244, issue C

Abstract: Will the adoption of AI by businesses substitute for worker tasks or jobs? This is a core question for which relatively scarce evidence exists—especially in the wake of recent advances in generative AI. Using a new large-scale business survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, we find that AI use is having a much greater impact on worker tasks than on employment levels at the firm level. About 27% of firms using AI report replacing worker tasks, but only about 5% experience employment change due to AI use. These rates are expected to increase to nearly 35% and 12%, respectively, in the near future.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Technology adoption; Firm performance; Task replacement; Labor substitution; Technology and employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L20 L23 L25 M20 M21 M51 O14 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:244:y:2024:i:c:s0165176524004555

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111971

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