Generative AI and Career Choices

Christian Gschwendt, Martina Viarengo () and Thea S. Zollner
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Christian Gschwendt: University of Bern
Martina Viarengo: Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
Thea S. Zollner: University of Bern

No 18456, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: The economic impact of technological change will critically depend on how future workers invest in their human capital. Yet, little is known about how future workers themselves evaluate and choose their educational and occupational paths in light of emerging technologies. This paper examines how adolescents currently at the school-to-work transition stage value working with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their future occupations, and how automation risk and opportunities for continuing education shape these preferences. We field a discrete-choice experiment among a nationally representative sample of over 7,000 Swiss adolescents aged around 15. We find that adolescents generally exhibit an aversion to collaborating with GenAI at work, with females consistently more averse than males. However, preferences are nuanced: adolescents welcome greater GenAI collaboration, provided that GenAI usage levels remain moderate and that it is not accompanied by increases in job automation risk. Finally, our findings suggest that AI-related educational opportunities in occupations improve attitudes towards working with GenAI across genders.

Keywords: occupational choice; gender gaps; GenAI; choice experiment; continuing education; automation risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J24 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ain, nep-dcm, nep-edu, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18456

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