The Effects of AI on Productivity and Work Practices
What will the future of work look like?
AI has the potential to radically transform work, including the displacement of workers, the creation of new types of organizations, and changes in productivity and performance.
Our research seeks to understand this evolution of the global workforce in a rapidly changing digital economy. We examine the effects of automation and augmentation, as well as the impact that AI will have on employment, wages, and inequality.
In 2019, before the Lab was founded, Director Erik Brynjolfsson appeared before the United States Congress to discuss artificial intelligence and the future of work. He presented two urgent economic challenges: a lack of productivity growth and too much inequality.
His policy recommendations included five key areas:
- Reinvent education
- Rebalance capital and labor
- Invest in US technology leadership
- Welcome high skill immigrants
- Support entrepreneurship
Since Erik gave his testimony, AI development has rapidly accelerated beyond all but the most radical of predictions. While the Lab explores the impact of all digital technologies on the economy, we know that artificial intelligence has imminent unparalleled potential for impacting every facet of our lives.
At this “crossroads of history,” it’s vitally important to not only understand the widespread impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace, but to guide business and institutional policy in a direction that will maximize growth, productivity.
It is not just the time to ask important questions about AI, but to find the answers. The Lab is producing leading research on the changes brought on by AI, and how policymakers, companies, and even workers can and should respond. “Generative AI at Work” (Brynjolfsson, Li, and Raymond 2025) was one of the first major studies to observe the real-world impact of generative AI on the workplace at scale.
With trillions of dollars invested in artificial intelligence as of 2026, we believe it’s time that productivity follows.
Read Erik ‘s full testimony
Productivity is what determines the wealth of nations, the success of companies and the living standards of individuals. While advances in technology are the catalyst of productivity growth, that growth is not realized unless and until a cascade of complementary innovations are implemented.
