How artificial intelligence (AI) will impact workplaces is a central question for the future of work, with potentially significant implications for jobs, productivity, and worker well-being. While a growing number of quantitative studies attempt to assess the impact of AI on various labour market outcomes, there remain significant knowledge gaps in terms of how firms, workers, and worker representatives are adapting. This study addresses these gaps through a qualitative approach. It is based on a new data collection that resulted in nearly 100 case studies of the impacts of AI technologies on
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How artificial intelligence (AI) will impact workplaces is a central question for the future of work, with potentially significant implications for jobs, productivity, and worker well-being. While a growing number of quantitative studies attempt to assess the impact of AI on various labour market outcomes, there remain significant knowledge gaps in terms of how firms, workers, and worker representatives are adapting. This study addresses these gaps through a qualitative approach. It is based on a new data collection that resulted in nearly 100 case studies of the impacts of AI technologies on workplaces in the manufacturing and finance sectors of eight OECD countries [Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States].
The findings provide a nuanced picture of the benefits and challenges of AI for workers, adding granularity to the public debate. The case studies show that, to date, job reorganisation appears more prevalent than job displacement, with automation prompting the reorientation of jobs towards tasks in which humans have a comparative advantage. The job quality improvements associated with AI - reductions in tedium, greater worker engagement, and improved physical safety - may be its strongest endorsement from a worker perspective. At the same time, the case studies highlight certain challenges - higher skill requirements, a deficit of specialised AI skills, and frequent reports of increased work intensity - underscoring the need for policies to ensure that AI technologies benefit everyone.
Published abstract.
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