US workers see AI-induced productivity growth, US Fed survey shows

Workers reported saving a substantial number of work hours by using generative artificial intelligence, according to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, along with Vanderbilt and Harvard universities.

The researchers, drawing from what they identified as the first nationally representative survey of generative AI adoption, measured the impact of generative AI on work productivity by how much workers used the technology and how intensely. They found users are saving meaningful amounts of time.

“On average, workers are 33 per cent more productive in each hour that they use generative AI,” the paper found. 

Among respondents that used generative AI in the previous week, 21 per cent said it saved them four hours or more in that week, 20 per cent reported three hours, 26 per cent said two hours and 33 per cent reported an hour or less.

More-frequent users reported greater time savings, suggesting there is a learning period in applying the technology. Among workers who used generative AI every day in the previous week, 34 per cent said it saved them four hours or more, compared with 12 per cent of those who used it only one day in that week.

Dr Alexander Bick of the St Louis Fed, Dr Adam Blandin at Vanderbilt University and Dr David Deming at Harvard found an individual using AI and working 40 hours per week would typically save 2.2 hours.

When non-AI users are added to the mix, the overall total hour savings for all survey participants was 1.4 per cent of total hours due to generative AI.

With an ageing population and growing concern over federal budget deficits in the US, productivity growth is seen as crucial to fuelling real wage gains, company profits and government tax revenue.

The research showed time savings are highly correlated with certain occupations.

Information service workers had both the largest share of work hours spent using generative AI (14 per cent) and the highest time savings (2.6 per cent).

Leisure, accommodation and other services had the lowest share of work hours spent using generative AI (2.3 per cent) and the lowest time savings (0.6 per cent), according to the report.

Still, widespread use of AI is a recent phenomenon, and its ultimate impact on overall productivity gains is still uncertain, the report said.

“If workers are now able to complete the same tasks in less time without their employers’ knowledge, they may take their time savings as on-the-job leisure, which would increase welfare but not productivity,” the authors wrote. BLOOMBERG