This research report, 《Which Economic Tasks are Performed with AI? Evidence from Millions of Claude Conversations》, authored by the Anthropic team, presents a systematic analysis of AI usage patterns in economic tasks by leveraging privacy-preserving data from millions of conversations on Claude.ai. The study aims to provide empirical insights into how AI is integrated into different occupational tasks and its impact on the labor market.
Research Background and Objectives
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has profound implications for the labor market. However, systematic empirical research on AI’s actual application in economic tasks remains scarce. This study introduces a novel framework that maps over four million conversations on Claude.ai to occupational categories from the U.S. Department of Labor’s O*NET database, identifying AI usage patterns and its impact on various professions. The research objectives include:
Measuring the scope of AI adoption in economic tasks, identifying which tasks and professions are most affected by AI.
Quantifying the depth of AI usage within occupations, assessing the extent of AI penetration in different job roles.
Evaluating AI’s application in different occupational skills, identifying the cognitive and technical skills where AI is most frequently utilized.
Analyzing the correlation between AI adoption, wage levels, and barriers to entry, determining whether AI usage aligns with occupational salaries and skill requirements.
Differentiating AI’s role in automation versus augmentation, assessing whether AI primarily functions as an automation tool or an augmentation assistant enhancing human productivity.
Key Research Findings
1. AI Usage is Predominantly Concentrated in Software Development and Writing Tasks
The most frequently AI-assisted tasks include software engineering (e.g., software development, data science, IT services) and writing (e.g., technical writing, content editing, marketing copywriting), together accounting for nearly 50% of total AI usage.
Approximately 36% of occupations incorporate AI for at least 25% of their tasks, indicating AI’s early-stage integration into diverse industry roles.
Occupations requiring physical interaction (e.g., anesthesiologists, construction workers) exhibit minimal AI usage, suggesting that AI’s influence remains primarily within cognitive and text-processing domains.
2. Quantifying the Depth of AI Integration Within Occupations
Only 4% of occupations utilize AI for over 75% of their tasks, indicating deep AI integration in select job roles.
36% of occupations leverage AI for at least 25% of tasks, signifying AI’s expanding role in various professional task portfolios, though full-scale adoption is still limited.
3. AI Excels in Tasks Requiring Cognitive Skills
AI is most frequently employed for tasks that demand reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking, while tasks requiring installation, equipment maintenance, negotiation, and management see lower AI usage.
This pattern underscores AI’s suitability as a cognitive augmentation tool rather than a substitute for physically intensive or highly interpersonal tasks.
4. Correlation Between AI Usage, Wage Levels, and Barriers to Entry
Wage Levels: AI adoption peaks in mid-to-high-income professions (upper quartile), such as software development and data analysis. However, very high-income (e.g., physicians) and low-income (e.g., restaurant workers) occupations exhibit lower AI usage, possibly due to:
High-income roles often requiring highly specialized expertise that AI cannot yet fully replace.
Low-income roles frequently involving significant physical tasks that are less suited for AI automation.
Barriers to Entry: AI is most frequently used in occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher (Job Zone 4), whereas occupations with the lowest (Job Zone 1) or highest (Job Zone 5) education requirements exhibit lower AI usage. This suggests that AI is particularly effective in knowledge-intensive, mid-tier skill professions.
5. AI’s Dual Role in Automation and Augmentation
AI usage can be categorized into:
Automation (43%): AI directly executes tasks with minimal human intervention, such as document formatting, marketing copywriting, and code debugging.
Augmentation (57%): AI collaborates with users in refining outputs, optimizing code, and learning new concepts.
The findings indicate that in most professions, AI is utilized for both automation (reducing human effort) and augmentation (enhancing productivity), reinforcing AI’s complementary role in the workforce.
Research Methodology
This study employs the Clio system (Tamkin et al., 2024) to classify and analyze Claude.ai’s vast conversation data, mapping it to O*NET’s occupational categories. The research follows these key steps:
Data Collection:
AI usage data from December 2024 to January 2025, encompassing one million interactions from both free and paid Claude.ai users.
Data was analyzed with strict privacy protection measures, excluding interactions from enterprise customers (API, team, or enterprise users).
Task Classification:
O*NET’s 20,000 occupational tasks serve as the foundation for mapping AI interactions.
A hierarchical classification model was applied to match AI interactions with occupational categories and specific tasks.
Skills Analysis:
The study mapped AI conversations to 35 occupational skills from O*NET.
Special attention was given to AI’s role in complex problem-solving, system analysis, technical design, and time management.
Automation vs. Augmentation Analysis:
AI interactions were classified into five collaboration modes:
Automation Modes: Directive execution, feedback-driven corrections.
Augmentation Modes: Task iteration, knowledge learning, validation.
Findings indicate a near 1:1 split between automation and augmentation, highlighting AI’s varied applications across different tasks.
Policy and Economic Implications
1. Comparing Predictions with Empirical Findings
The research findings validate some prior AI impact predictions while challenging others:
Webb (2019) predicted AI’s most significant impact in high-income occupations; however, this study found that mid-to-high-income professions exhibit the highest AI adoption, while very high-income professions (e.g., doctors) remain less affected.
Eloundou et al. (2023) forecasted that 80% of occupations would see at least 10% of tasks impacted by AI. This study’s empirical data shows that approximately 57% of occupations currently use AI for at least 10% of their tasks, slightly below prior projections but aligned with expected trends.
2. AI’s Long-Term Impact on Occupations
AI’s role in augmenting rather than replacing human work suggests that most occupations will evolve rather than disappear.
Policy recommendations:
Monitor AI-driven workforce shifts to identify which occupations benefit and which face displacement risks.
Adapt education and workforce training programs to ensure workers develop AI collaboration skills rather than being displaced by automation.
Conclusion
This research systematically analyzes over four million Claude.ai conversations to assess AI’s integration into economic tasks, revealing:
AI is primarily applied in software development, writing, and data analysis tasks.
AI adoption is widespread but not universal, with 36% of occupations utilizing AI for at least 25% of tasks.
AI usage exhibits a balanced distribution between automation (43%) and augmentation (57%).
Mid-to-high-income occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree show the highest AI adoption, while low-income and elite specialized professions remain less affected.
As AI technologies continue to evolve, their role in the economy will keep expanding. Policymakers, businesses, and educators must proactively leverage AI’s benefits while mitigating risks, ensuring AI serves as an enabler of productivity and workforce transformation.
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