What Work Does Generative AI Do?

Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David Deming and Tyler Schumacher

No 21889, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We measure how workers use genAI for their jobs in a nationally representative survey. Our data provide the first task-level genAI adoption indexes, which can inform analyses of genAI's labor market impact. Exposure scores explain some, but far from all, of the variation in adoption across occupations and tasks. Chat-log measures differ conceptually and tend to over-classify chats into generic activities. Current adoption is widespread but shallow: genAI is used across many occupations and tasks, yet within most, fewer than half of workers adopt. Understanding who adopts may thus matter as much as understanding which tasks genAI assists.

Keywords: Generative; AI (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C83 J24 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-08
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Related works:
Working Paper: What Work Does Generative AI Do? (2026)
Working Paper: What Work Does Generative AI Do? (2026)
Working Paper: What Work Does Generative AI Do? (2026)
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