The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI

Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin and David Deming

No 2024-027, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is a potentially important new technology, but its impact on the economy depends on the speed and intensity of adoption. This paper reports results from a series of nationally representative U.S. surveys of generative AI use at work and at home. As of late 2024, nearly 40% of the U.S. population age 18-64 uses generative AI. 23% of employed respondents had used generative AI for work at least once in the previous week, and 9% used it every work day. Relative to each technology’s first mass-market product launch, work adoption of generative AI has been as fast as the personal computer (PC), and overall adoption has been faster than either PCs or the internet. Generative AI and PCs have very similar early work adoption patterns by education, occupation, and other characteristics. Between 1 and 5% of all work hours are currently assisted by generative AI, and respondents report time savings equivalent to 1.4% of total work hours. This suggests that substantial productivity gains from generative AI are possible.

Keywords: generative artificial intelligence (AI); technology adoption; employment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2024-09-20, Revised 2025-02-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ain, nep-ict, nep-ipr, nep-lma and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI (2024)
Working Paper: The Rapid Adoption of Generative AI (2023)
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DOI: 10.20955/wp.2024.027

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