Anthropic Economic Index · 17,998 Tasks · 2024
AI Labor Market Research

Which work
tasks does AI
penetrate?

Analysis of 17,998 distinct occupational tasks from the Anthropic Economic Index, measuring the rate at which Claude interacts with each type of work. The findings reveal a striking pattern: AI penetration is almost entirely all-or-nothing.

17,998
Occupational tasks analyzed across all sectors
7.5%
Share of tasks with any observed AI penetration
88.7%
Average penetration rate among tasks that are penetrated
204
Tasks with 100% observed penetration rate
92.5%
of the 17,998 tracked tasks show zero AI penetration — meaning no observed Claude interaction. But among tasks that are penetrated, the average rate is an extraordinary 88.7%. This binary pattern suggests AI doesn't gradually enter work — it either dominates a task type completely, or doesn't touch it at all.
The bimodal split
16,644
Zero penetration
1,354
AI-penetrated

Tasks split almost entirely into two groups: completely untouched by AI, or significantly penetrated. There is almost no middle ground — only ~150 tasks fall in the 10–50% range.

Distribution of all tasks
Top 25 penetrated task verbs by frequency
Highest-Penetration Tasks
Showing all 1,354 AI-penetrated tasks
Penetration by Task Verb
What kinds of work does AI enter?
Task verb · number of penetrated tasks · average penetration rate
All AI-Penetrated Tasks
1,354 tasks with observed AI interaction
⌕
Task Description ↕ Verb ↕ Penetration ↓ Bar
Penetration
–
–