Follow the money: a startup-based measure of AI exposure across occupations, industries and regions

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Fenoaltea, Enrico Maria, Mazzilli, Dario, Patelli, Aurelio, Sbardella, Angelica, Tacchella, Andrea, Zaccaria, Andrea, Trombetti, Marco, Pietronero, Luciano
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Fenoaltea, Enrico Maria
Mazzilli, Dario
Patelli, Aurelio
Sbardella, Angelica
Tacchella, Andrea
Zaccaria, Andrea
Trombetti, Marco
Pietronero, Luciano
author_facet Fenoaltea, Enrico Maria
Mazzilli, Dario
Patelli, Aurelio
Sbardella, Angelica
Tacchella, Andrea
Zaccaria, Andrea
Trombetti, Marco
Pietronero, Luciano
contents The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the workplace is advancing rapidly, necessitating robust metrics to evaluate its tangible impact on the labour market. Existing measures of AI occupational exposure largely focus on AI's theoretical potential to substitute or complement human labour on the basis of technical feasibility, providing limited insight into actual adoption and offering inadequate guidance for policymakers. To address this gap, we introduce the AI Startup Exposure (AISE) index-a novel metric based on occupational descriptions from O*NET and AI applications developed by startups funded by the Y Combinator accelerator. Our findings indicate that while high-skilled professions are theoretically highly exposed according to conventional metrics, they are heterogeneously targeted by startups. Roles involving routine organizational tasks-such as data analysis and office management-display significant exposure, while occupations involving tasks that are less amenable to AI automation due to ethical or high-stakes, more than feasibility, considerations -- such as judges or surgeons -- present lower AISE scores. By focusing on venture-backed AI applications, our approach offers a nuanced perspective on how AI is reshaping the labour market. It challenges the conventional assumption that high-skilled jobs uniformly face high AI risks, highlighting instead the role of today's AI players' societal desirability-driven and market-oriented choices as critical determinants of AI exposure. Contrary to fears of widespread job displacement, our findings suggest that AI adoption will be gradual and shaped by social factors as much as by the technical feasibility of AI applications. This framework provides a dynamic, forward-looking tool for policymakers and stakeholders to monitor AI's evolving impact and navigate the changing labour landscape.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_04924
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Follow the money: a startup-based measure of AI exposure across occupations, industries and regions
Fenoaltea, Enrico Maria
Mazzilli, Dario
Patelli, Aurelio
Sbardella, Angelica
Tacchella, Andrea
Zaccaria, Andrea
Trombetti, Marco
Pietronero, Luciano
General Economics
Economics
Artificial Intelligence
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the workplace is advancing rapidly, necessitating robust metrics to evaluate its tangible impact on the labour market. Existing measures of AI occupational exposure largely focus on AI's theoretical potential to substitute or complement human labour on the basis of technical feasibility, providing limited insight into actual adoption and offering inadequate guidance for policymakers. To address this gap, we introduce the AI Startup Exposure (AISE) index-a novel metric based on occupational descriptions from O*NET and AI applications developed by startups funded by the Y Combinator accelerator. Our findings indicate that while high-skilled professions are theoretically highly exposed according to conventional metrics, they are heterogeneously targeted by startups. Roles involving routine organizational tasks-such as data analysis and office management-display significant exposure, while occupations involving tasks that are less amenable to AI automation due to ethical or high-stakes, more than feasibility, considerations -- such as judges or surgeons -- present lower AISE scores. By focusing on venture-backed AI applications, our approach offers a nuanced perspective on how AI is reshaping the labour market. It challenges the conventional assumption that high-skilled jobs uniformly face high AI risks, highlighting instead the role of today's AI players' societal desirability-driven and market-oriented choices as critical determinants of AI exposure. Contrary to fears of widespread job displacement, our findings suggest that AI adoption will be gradual and shaped by social factors as much as by the technical feasibility of AI applications. This framework provides a dynamic, forward-looking tool for policymakers and stakeholders to monitor AI's evolving impact and navigate the changing labour landscape.
title Follow the money: a startup-based measure of AI exposure across occupations, industries and regions
topic General Economics
Economics
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.04924