AI can already do the work of 12% of America’s workforce, MIT researchers discover | USAEMALL.com

Artificial intelligence can do the work currently performed by nearly 12% of America’s workforce, according to a recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The researchers, relying on a metric called the “Iceberg Index” that measures a job’s potential to be automated, conclude that AI already has the cognitive and technical capacity to handle a range of tasks in technology, finance, health care and professional services.

The index simulated how more than 150 million U.S. workers across nearly 1,000 occupations interact and overlap with AI’s abilities. Specifically, it measures exposure to AI capabilities and how the rapidly emerging technology overlaps with workers’ occupational skills. 

The study doesn’t seek to shed light on how many workers AI may already have displaced or could supplant in the future. To what extent such tools take over job functions performed by people depends on a number of factors, including individual businesses’ strategy, societal acceptance and possible policy interventions, the researchers note. 

AI’s uses extend far beyond some of its most visible applications, such as writing computer code, the researchers note. Among the ways employers across different industries are using AI:

• Financial services firms use AI for document processing and analytical support 
• Health care providers are adapting AI to handle administrative tasks, allowing clinical staff to focus on patient care
• Manufacturers use the tech for quality control, including automating inspections
• Logistics operators are implementing AI to handle fulfillment

“[F]inancial analysts will not disappear, but AI systems may demonstrate capability across significant portions of document-processing and routine analysis work,” the researchers said. “This reshapes how roles are structured and which skills remain in demand, without necessarily reducing headcount.”

The study analyzed workers’ distinct skills and compared them to the abilities of more than 13,000 AI tools. In some cases, AI can augment human efforts, while in other types of work the technology is far more transformative, according to the researchers. 

For example, AI can streamline filling out paperwork, freeing nurses up to spend more time with patients. It can also quickly and accurately produce software code, forcing software engineers with limited skills to shift their focus. 

But AI is already doing some of the entry-level jobs that have historically been reserved for recent college graduates or relatively inexperienced workers, the report notes. 

“AI systems now generate more than a billion lines of code each day, prompting companies to restructure hiring pipelines and reduce demand for entry-level programmers,” the researchers wrote. “These observable changes in technology occupations signal a broader reorganization of work that extends beyond software development.”