AI adoption at work is broad but shallow
GenAI now reaches 80% of occupations, but in most of those fewer than half of workers use it
New research highlights that while generative AI is being adopted across 80% of occupations, its use is shallow, with fewer than half of workers in most occupations adopting the technology. This phenomenon is most pronounced in management and professional roles, particularly those in finance, business, and computer-related fields.
Conversely, occupations requiring manual activity or interpersonal interaction show the lowest adoption rates. Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Vanderbilt, Harvard, and Vanderbilt found that discrepancies exist between chat log data from AI companies and US Department of Labor O*NET database figures. Chat log classifiers often associate chats with generic tasks, leading to an overestimation of generative AI's relevance to workers' jobs.
For instance, 15% of chats may involve editing, but only 2.4% of workers have jobs that include this task. The study reveals that while generative AI is employed in numerous occupations and tasks, only a few occupations have adoption rates exceeding 70%, and only a small percentage of tasks surpass 50% adoption. The overall adoption rate, as of May 2026, stands at 55% for US adults aged 18-64, with 45% using generative AI for work purposes.
The researchers emphasize that factors such as prior experience with AI play a significant role in adoption decisions, suggesting that understanding why some workers embrace AI while others do not is as crucial as identifying its capabilities.
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