Time saved by AI offset by new work created, study suggests
1 min read
Summary
A study of Denmark’s labour market covering 2023 and 2024 has found that, thus far, the impact of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has been minimal.
Though the technology has been widely adopted, it has not had a significant impact on either wages or employment numbers, despite rapid adoption in some sectors.
The study, by economists from the University of Chicago and the University of Copenhagen, is the first large-scale empirical examination of the technology’s impact on the economy and workforce.
The researchers focused on AI chatbots and 11 occupations that were previously considered vulnerable to automation, such as accounting, software development and customer support.
The study found that whilst chatbots did create some new job tasks for 8.4% of workers, they also saved time for between 64-90% of users, meaning the overall impact was minimal.
