Anthropic, an artificial intelligence (AI) safety and research company, launched the Anthropic Economic Index, an initiative designed to track and analyze the evolving impact of AI systems on labor markets and the broader economy. Their initial report, based on millions of anonymized conversations on Claude.ai (Anthropic’s AI model), offers a unique look at how AI is currently being integrated into real-world tasks. To further understanding, Anthropic also is open sourcing the dataset used for the analysis and inviting input from economists, policy experts, and researchers.
The report’s key findings revealed that AI usage is currently concentrated in software development and technical writing, with over a third of occupations (~36%) using AI in at least a quarter of their associated tasks. AI is primarily being used for augmentation (enhancing human capabilities) rather than full automation. Interestingly, AI adoption is more prevalent in mid- to high-wage occupations, such as computer programmers and data scientists, and less so in both the highest- and lowest-paid roles, with Anthropic contributing this to the current limitations of AI and practical barriers to its implementation.
Anthropic’s research focused on occupational tasks rather than just occupations, recognizing that jobs often share common skills and tasks. Using Clio, a system that analyzes Claude conversations while preserving privacy, researchers matched approximately one million conversations to tasks defined by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database. These tasks were then categorized into broader occupational groups.
The results show that the “computer and mathematical” category, largely encompassing software engineering, has the highest AI adoption rate (37.2% of queries), with tasks like software modification and code debugging. The second largest category is “arts, design, sports, entertainment, and media” (10.3%), mainly for writing and editing. As may be expected, physically intensive occupations like “farming, fishing, and forestry” saw the lowest representation (0.1%).
These kinds of longitudinal analyses can give new insights into AI and the job market. The Anthropic Economic Index aims to provide valuable data and understanding to inform policy responses to the transformative effects of AI on the labor market.