The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Generative AI at Work
Key Takeaway
A staggered rollout to 5,172 customer-support agents increased issues resolved per hour by 15% on average. Less experienced workers gained most, while the most experienced saw smaller gains and slight quality declines.
AI-generated HIE assessmentStudy Design
field study
title and abstract
What the Study Found
This study examines a staggered rollout of a generative AI conversational assistant among 5,172 customer-support agents. Access to assistance increased issues resolved per hour by 15% on average. Less experienced and lower-skilled workers improved both speed and quality, while the most experienced workers saw smaller speed gains and slight quality declines. The evidence comes from one firm and occupation, so generalization requires caution.
Original paper recordEvidence Strength
Evidence strengths
- 5,172 workers
- Real-world deployment data
- Measures productivity, quality, learning, and worker experience
Limitations
- Single firm and occupation
- Staggered rollout is less controlled than a randomized experiment
What This Does Not Prove
This record does not establish effects beyond the population, tasks, duration, and methods described by the paper. It should not be read as a universal causal claim.
HIE Interpretation
Large real-world study showing heterogeneous effects of generative AI on worker productivity, learning, and quality.
AI-generated HIE assessment · AI assessment confidence 91Related Topics
- Human-AI Interaction
- Artificial Intelligence
- Learning
- Social Intelligence
Connected Claims
- Supports
Human-AI collaboration does not reliably outperform the better standalone human or AI; results depend strongly on the task and interaction design.
AI assistance improved productivity in a specific customer-support setting, with heterogeneous effects by worker experience.
- Scientific evidence strength
- 90
- AI relationship confidence
- 91
- Source / review level
- Abstract reviewed
- Human review
- No human review
- Provenance
- codex-research-curation · initial-curation-v1
Original Source
DOI 10.1093/qje/qjae044 ↗