Experimental evidence on the productivity effects of generative artificial intelligence

TLDR

The study examined how ChatGPT affects productivity in midlevel professional writing tasks. A preregistered online experiment with 453 professionals assigned writing tasks, randomly exposing half to ChatGPT. ChatGPT substantially raised productivity, reducing average task time by 40% and improving output quality by 18%; it also decreased worker inequality, increased AI excitement, and doubled the likelihood of continued use at two weeks and 1.6× at two months.

Abstract

We examined the productivity effects of a generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the assistive chatbot ChatGPT, in the context of midlevel professional writing tasks. In a preregistered online experiment, we assigned occupation-specific, incentivized writing tasks to 453 college-educated professionals and randomly exposed half of them to ChatGPT. Our results show that ChatGPT substantially raised productivity: The average time taken decreased by 40% and output quality rose by 18%. Inequality between workers decreased, and concern and excitement about AI temporarily rose. Workers exposed to ChatGPT during the experiment were 2 times as likely to report using it in their real job 2 weeks after the experiment and 1.6 times as likely 2 months after the experiment.