Thursday, January 29, 2026

Where is Generative AI Being Used Most?

Generative AI usage at the moment centers overwhelmingly on information work such as creating, processing, and communicating information, a Microsoft Research study "Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations,” authored by Kiran Tomlinson, Sonia Jaffe, Will Wang, Scott Counts, and Siddharth Suri finds. 


That should come as no surprise, since the whole point of generative AI is the creation of content


Generative AI is most often invoked by workers for:


The most-frequent AI actions include:

  • Providing information / assistance

  • Explaining / teaching

  • Responding to inquiries

  • Preparing informational materials.


The study also suggests AI performs best at:


On the other hand, generative AI does less well for:


In terms of where generative AI should affect jobs, the researchers say the highest applicability is for:

  • Media & Communication Workers

  • Sales Representatives (Services)

  • Information & Record Clerks

  • Mathematical Science Occupations

  • Interpreters & Translators

  • Writers & Authors

  • Customer Service Representatives

  • Journalists, Editors, PR Specialists, Data Scientists, Management Analysts


The lowest applicability (or job displacement or devaluation) happens in predominantly manual, physical, or direct human-care roles, such as:

  • Construction & extraction trades

  • Agricultural workers

  • Building cleaners

  • Food processing / machine operation

  • Many healthcare support and production roles.


The researchers examined about 200,000 anonymized U.S. conversations with Microsoft Copilot (now Microsoft Copilot) from January 2024 to September 2024 as part of the research. 


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Where is Generative AI Being Used Most?

Generative AI usage at the moment centers overwhelmingly on information work such as creating, processing, and communicating information, a...