Who is Losing Their Job to AI? Myths and Realities

• In Event: Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 11. Jobs & markets

Abstract

Public discourse surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI) often includes claims of mass displacement and promises of widespread productivity gains. Drawing on a national survey of 1,000 U.S. workers who lost their jobs within the past five years, this study examines who reports losing employment to AI and what happens afterward. Contrary to narratives of universal disruption, AI-related job loss is patterned and uneven. Workers in computer science occupations, those residing in urban areas, and individuals highly familiar with AI are more likely to attribute displacement to AI. Yet those reporting AI-related job loss are also more likely to find new employment and to do so more quickly than workers displaced for other reasons. These findings suggest that AI-related displacement may reflect occupational restructuring rather than permanent exclusion from the labor market. Consistent with an ecological perspective, the consequences of AI adoption vary across social groups and labor markets, reshaping rather than uniformly eroding employment opportunities.

Authors

• Eric Dahlin, Brigham Young University-Provo

• Megan Williams, Brigham Young University

• Kylee Haunga, Brigham Young University

• Angela Chock, Brigham Young University