Artificial Intelligence, Productivity, and the Workforce: Evidence From Corporate Executives
Salomé Baslandze, Zachary Edwards, John R. Graham, Ty McClure, Michael Sparks, Brent Meyer, Sonya Ravindranath Waddell, Daniel WeitzABSTRACT
We survey 734 executives to study how artificial intelligence (AI) affects productivity and labor. AI adoption is widespread but shallow at most firms, mostly focused on subscriptions. For workforce, companies on net anticipate small near‐term AI‐driven aggregate employment declines: larger (smaller) companies expect to reduce (increase) routine clerical (technical) positions more. Labor productivity gains are driven mainly by innovation‐ and demand‐oriented channels. Like with past general‐purpose technologies, we document a productivity paradox, likely reflecting a delay in revenue realizations. Unlike earlier technology waves, however, the typical firm exhibits little capital deepening, an indication that AI adoption mostly involves renting intangible capital.