Google: AI adoption at work is broad, but automation remains limited
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AI use has spread across a broad range of occupations, but it has yet to become the job-automating force many workers fear, according to a new Google study of nearly 15 million interactions with Gemini.
Why it matters: The report offers a broad snapshot of real-world AI use, highlighting the gap between jobs that could be affected by AI, jobs where workers are using AI and tasks being automated.
The big picture: Google found that people mostly use Gemini as a collaborator — for research, drafting, iteration, troubleshooting and learning — rather than delegating entire jobs to it.
- "Adoption of AI is very, very broad in that it touches a huge range of occupations," said Scott Strand, an economist on Google's technology and society team.
- Gemini usage covered 70% of jobs, Strand said, adding that those jobs where AI is being used represent 90% of U.S. employment.
- At the same time, he said AI use is also "very shallow," with the average worker using it for only 21% of tasks, with less than 10% of Gemini interactions seemingly geared at automating non-routine cognitive work.
- That is directionally similar to earlier research from Anthropic and OpenAI, though Anthropic did report a higher level of automation.
Methodology: The report, known as ATLAS — Activity, Task, Landscape and Adoption Study — analyzed 14.65 million de-identified interactions across the Gemini app, Google's AI Mode search experience and the Gemini API over two weeks in April.
- Automated systems classified interactions as work-related or non-work-related, then mapped work-related activity to 4,000 tasks across 800 occupations in 150 countries and 140 languages.
- Non-work tasks were mapped to the categories used in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' American Time Use Survey.
Yes, but: The study did not include how people are using business-focused tools such as Gemini Enterprise and Google Workspace because the company doesn't maintain logs for those products. It's possible that that additional data could show greater levels of automation.
- "We obviously would love to use that data if we could," Strand said. "It just wasn't even an option for us."
Between the lines: Workers in higher-paid jobs and in wealthier geographies use AI more, the study found.
- For example, Google found that a 1% increase in an occupation's median earnings is associated with a 2.68% increase in the level of AI use.
Zoom in: The survey found more use by workers in blue-collar jobs than researchers anticipated, including electricians seeking wiring diagrams and auto repair workers looking for engine maps.
- "Blue-collar workers tend to be using a lot of what we call multimodal AI, which is AI with images and video," Strand said.
- Consumer use was also broader than expected: Non-work interactions accounted for 86% of Gemini conversations, Google found.
- Consumers used Gemini not only to complete tasks such as cooking and cleaning more quickly, but also to navigate government services and processes.
What we're watching: The open question is whether studies like this can help predict where AI use is headed — or whether they are mainly snapshots of how people have already used the technology.
- Google expects ATLAS to be the first in a series, though the company has not yet decided how often it will publish updates.
