New insights from Google’s AI & Economy ATLAS
We’ve translated ATLAS’s millions of global data points into an interactive, open-access experience.
New insights have emerged from Google’s AI & Economy ATLAS, shedding light on how artificial intelligence is reshaping global work. This interactive, open-access experience allows users to explore data on AI adoption across various professions, such as electricians and purchasing managers, as well as its usage at home and in different countries.
The ATLAS data also reveals regional trends and usage patterns of AI among professionals. A recent study by Google, Google DeepMind, and MIT FutureTech, utilizing ATLAS data, provides new insights into how scientists employ AI in their work. The research, which examines 2,600 specialized AI models and surveys over 600 U.S. and U.K. scientists, shows that scientists are utilizing AI at a higher rate than many other occupations, with nearly half using it daily.
Scientists employ both specialized models and large language models (LLMs) like Gemini, but their applications vary. While LLMs are widely used across scientific fields and task categories, specialized AI models are more prevalent in health and life sciences, as well as domain-specific data prediction, generation, and simulation tasks.
Scientists report substantial time savings—just under seven hours per week—thanks to AI, which would otherwise be spent on research. However, this productivity gain may not automatically lead to new discoveries.
The study also identifies challenges in validating AI outputs, an accumulating backlog of untested hypotheses, and potential bottlenecks in physical experimentation and clinical validation. These findings suggest that while AI can significantly boost productivity, realizing its full potential in scientific discoveries may necessitate redesigning scientific processes and workflows to accommodate fast-evolving AI capabilities.
As the future of AI and the economy remains uncertain, ATLAS continues its long-term research journey, working with academic partners to uncover new research avenues and generate fresh insights into AI's transformative impact on the economy.
Written by urgent.news from Google Blog's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- New insights from Google’s AI & Economy ATLAS blog.google
