What Work Does Generative AI Do?

Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David J. Deming, Tyler R. Schumacher · NBER Working Papers · August 2026

Where this sits in the debate

Will AI destroy more jobs than it creates?

Direction of the finding as read from the abstract by an AI model (AI-written).

Key takeaway AI-written

Using a nationally representative survey that links generative AI use to detailed occupations and tasks, the authors build the first task-level indexes of genAI adoption. They show these adoption measures can sharpen analyses of genAI's labor-market impact, and that standard exposure scores explain only part of actual use.

The paper in three steps AI-written

Written by an AI agent from the paper's abstract, which is the primary source and is quoted below.

The question

Which job tasks do workers actually use generative AI for, and does task-level adoption help explain its labor market impact?

The approach

A nationally representative survey of workers linking generative AI adoption to detailed occupations and tasks, used to build task-level adoption indexes.

The findings

The authors report the first task-level generative AI adoption indexes and show they can inform analyses of labor market impact; exposure scores explain only part of observed adoption.

How to read it: survey. Self-reported data from firms or individuals — good for perceptions and adoption; answers can differ from behavior.

Limitations and counterpoints AI-written

The available abstract is truncated, so the size of the gap between exposure and adoption and other results are not described here. Survey self-reports may not match measured use.

Abstract

We measure how workers use genAI for their jobs in a nationally representative survey linking genAI adoption to detailed occupations and tasks. Our data provide the first task-level genAI adoption indexes, which we show can inform analyses of genAIs labor market impact. Exposure scores explain some,

About this publication

Working paper. A working paper — circulated for discussion before formal peer review, the standard first outlet in economics.

Published: 2026
Citations: Not recorded for this source

Citation counts come from OpenAlex; none are recorded for this source — absence of a count is not absence of citations.

David J. Deming signed the wemustactnow.ai letter — part of why this paper is in the collection.

Cited elsewhere in this guide

State of the debate: Will AI destroy more jobs than it creates?