Instead of putting people out of work, AI is mostly helping them do their jobs, finds a new study from Anthropic, the maker of Claude, an AI model popular among software coders.
The findings land amid a heated debate over whether AI will ultimately eliminate jobs or create new ones.
The report offers a detailed examination of AI use, looking at an anonymized sample from 2 million real Claude conversations that took place last year on its free and pay-for services.
- This is the fourth time Anthropic has released its economic index, focused on understanding AI's role in the job market and economy.
Anthropic's own founder and CEO has warned that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and push unemployment as high as 10–20% within one to five years.
- But the study out today, from his own company, paints a more nuanced picture. And many other researchers find that, like with past technological revolutions, AI is more likely to create jobs than destroy them.
- "The future is uncertain," says Peter McCrory, Anthropic's head of economics.
AI is reshaping how people work, not if people work.
- Put another way: AI takes over parts of people's jobs.
- 49% of jobs can now use AI in at least a quarter of the tasks involved — up from 36% three months ago, Anthropic found.
Researchers used Claude to analyze transcripts of conversations along different dimensions — was it about work, for educational or personal purposes?
- How long would it take to complete a task if they didn't have AI? How many years of education would someone need to understand Claude's response?
- They considered whether people were using Claude to fully automate a task for them — "translate this into French." Or were they augmenting their work — "let's write this report together."
The study found about a 50/50 split between augmentation and automation, with a slight edge to augmentation.
- 53% of work, on the free Claude site, involved augmented tasks. That share is down slightly from January of last year, when it was 57%.
The way AI changes your job depends a lot on what kind of work you do, and broadly speaking, the differences can be grouped into two buckets.
- Deskilling: AI starts to take on large portions of the roles, say, for data entry workers or IT specialists. This work appears to be more at risk for being automated away, continuing decades-long trends in the making.
- Upskilling: AI takes on some of your more rote work, leaving more time for higher-skill human tasks. As with radiologists or therapists, for example, who can devote more time to interacting with clients and less to back-end, time-intensive work.
Friction point: The study finds that AI delivers the biggest productivity gains on complex work — the same work that most requires human oversight.
- It can take Claude minutes to pull together a broad overview of research, says McCrory.
- But whether or not that actually generates any real value hinges on your expertise in evaluating that work, he says.
- "The most complex tasks that people use Claude for are the ones where Claude tends to struggle most," he says. "Human oversight, direction, and iteration are thus that much more valuable."
The need for humans is either a bottleneck that will slow down any productivity gains brought on by AI, or a force multiplier that will keep us all employed.
The tech is improving quickly, and Anthropic also has an interest in portraying its technology as revolutionary to draw users and investors.
AI is changing the way we work, but the job apocalypse is not here yet.
Here is a draft for a blog post that breaks down this data into an engaging, actionable format for your readers.
The "Great Hesitation": Why New Hires are Settling for Less in 2026
If you’ve been feeling like the job market has lost its spark lately, you’re not alone. The latest data from ZipRecruiter Economic Research paints a sobering picture: the era of the "Great Resignation" has officially been replaced by a period of caution, necessity, and missed opportunities.
As hiring slows and corporate giants like Amazon and Microsoft continue to trim their headcounts, the power dynamic has shifted. Here is what you need to know about the current state of employment and why many workers might be leaving money on the table.
1. Security Over Salary
In a market where only 50,000 jobs were added nationally in December, the goal for most job seekers has shifted from "finding the dream" to "finding the floor."
Pay Cuts are Rising: 27% of new hires took a pay cut to secure their current role.
The Death of the Sign-on Bonus: Only 15% of new hires received a signing bonus last quarter—the lowest rate we’ve seen all year.
Dream Jobs are Cooling: Only 25% of people reported landing their "dream job" in Q4, a sharp drop from 36% just three months prior.
2. The Negotiation Gap
Perhaps the most startling find in the report is that only 30.4% of new hires negotiated their offers. In a tighter market, many candidates feel lucky just to receive an offer and fear that pushing back might jeopardize the opportunity. However, the data shows this fear might be costing them; those who did negotiate successfully secured higher base pay and better benefits.
The Takeaway: Even in a slow market, employers often have a "buffer" in their budget. By not asking, job seekers are effectively leaving money on the table.
3. Why Workers Stay (and Why They’ll Eventually Leave)
While over half of new hires have stopped their job search and 25% plan to stay for five years or more, this loyalty may be a "forced" stability rather than a passionate one.
A staggering 60% of respondents admitted they would leave their current role immediately for higher pay. So, what is keeping people in their seats for now? Aside from the paycheck, it comes down to two things:
Work-Life Balance
Manager Relationships
According to ZipRecruiter Labor Economist Nicole Bachaud, poor management and stressful workloads are the primary drivers of "new hire regret." When the market eventually turns, companies that neglected these areas will likely face a mass exodus.
Tips for Navigating This Market
For Job Seekers: Don't let the headlines scare you out of negotiating. Research the market rate for your role and advocate for your value—the data shows that those who ask, get.
For Employers: Retention is your biggest challenge. If you can’t offer top-tier raises right now, focus on manager training and flexible scheduling to keep your best talent from looking at the exit.