How AI is expanding what people do at work

AI changes the work that people do. In an analysis of more than 800,000 messages from U.S. ChatGPT users, our new research suggests that 16.8% of work-related messages and 43.5% of occupation-specific messages are about tasks associated with another occupation.

A small-business owner can independently draft copy, review a contract, or perform basic financial analysis. A salesperson can use AI to explore a customer dataset that might once have gone to an analyst. A marketer can troubleshoot a website without waiting for a developer. In each case, AI changes not just how work gets done, but who does what.

Our new report, Work at the Frontier: How AI is Expanding What People Do at Work, studies this shift. We call the resulting pattern task crossover: work historically associated with one occupation appearing in the AI use of people in another. In our AI Jobs Transition Framework⁠(opens in a new window), we argue that many jobs are likely to reorganize: these are jobs whose day-to-day tasks could change substantially. This report is the first in our new Work at the Frontier series, which explores how AI is changing work in real time. 

Using our unique window into how the world of work is changing, we will offer regular data-driven insights based on evidence to guide policy and practice.

Nearly half of occupation-specific AI use crosses job boundaries

Many studies of AI and work begin with a fixed list of tasks associated with a given occupation and ask whether models can perform them. Our evidence suggests that AI is also changing who takes on which tasks.

This suggests that a substantial part of work-related ChatGPT use is from users expanding their role. The pattern is especially pronounced in several groups. Once generic work is excluded, outside-occupation tasks account for: 

• 77% of occupation-specific messages from customer experience workers

• 75% from designers

• 69% from human resources workers

• 56% from legal workers 

• 53% from marketers