Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, investigates the rapid adoption of generative AI in the United States

GenAI Decoded

Deep Dive into Fed's GenAI adoption report

This paper, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, investigates the rapid adoption of generative AI in the United States. The authors conducted a nationwide survey to measure the prevalence of generative AI use at work and at home. The study found that generative AI has been adopted faster than technologies such as personal computers and the internet, and is used in a wide range of occupations and job tasks. The authors also analyze the potential impact of generative AI on labor productivity based on their survey results and existing research on the technology's impact on task productivity.
Main Themes:

• Rapid Adoption of Generative AI: Generative AI is being adopted faster than previous transformative technologies like personal computers and the internet.
• Widespread Usage: Generative AI is a general-purpose technology used across a diverse range of occupations and tasks, both at work and at home.
• Potential for Productivity Gains: While still early, there is evidence suggesting that generative AI can lead to substantial increases in worker productivity.

Key Findings:

• Adoption Rate: As of August 2024, 39.4% of the U.S. population aged 18-64 reported using generative AI.
• This is higher than the adoption rates of the internet (20% after two years) and personal computers (20% after three years) at similar points in their lifecycles.
• Workplace Usage: 28% of employed respondents reported using generative AI at work.
• Over 24% used it at least once in the week prior to the survey, and nearly 1 in 9 used it every workday.
• Occupations: While adoption varies across occupations, generative AI usage is evident in both high-skilled and lower-skilled jobs.
• The highest usage is reported in computer and math occupations, followed by management and business/finance occupations.
• Tasks: The most common tasks generative AI is used for are writing, administrative tasks, and interpreting/translating/summarizing text or data. However, usage is spread across a wide range of tasks.
• Potential Impact on Productivity:The authors estimate that 0.5% to 3.5% of all work hours in the U.S. are currently being assisted by generative AI.
• "If we assume that generative AI increases task productivity by 25 percent - the median estimate across five randomized studies - this would translate to increase in labor productivity of between 0.125 and 0.875 percentage points at current levels of usage." (Bick, Blandin, Deming 2024)

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