Differences in AI adoption in Europe and the US: Explanations and implications for productivity growth

The economic impact of generative AI will depend on the speed and breadth of adoption by workers and firms. Drawing on a survey of workers in the US and six European countries and a firm survey covering 32 European countries, this column explores the speed of AI adoption across countries and whether an ‘AI gap’ will exacerbate existing productivity differences between the US and Europe. There are large differences in AI adoption across countries, much of which are accounted for by management practices. Higher AI adoption rates are associated with faster productivity growth but not with changes in employment.

Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the U.S.

This paper combines international evidence from worker and firm surveys conducted in 2025 and 2026 to document large gaps in AI adoption, both between the US and Europe and across European countries. Cross-country differences in worker demographics and firm composition account for an important share of these gaps. AI adoption, within and across countries, is also closely linked to firm personnel management practices and whether firms actively encourage AI use by workers. Micro-level evidence suggests that AI generates meaningful time savings for many workers. At the macro level, in recent years industries with higher AI adoption rates have experienced faster productivity growth. While we do not establish causality, this relationship is statistically significant and similar in magnitude in Europe and the US. We do not find clear evidence that industry-level AI adoption is associated with employment changes. We discuss limitations of existing data and outline priorities for future data collection to better assess the productivity and labor market effects of AI.

The ‘productivity paradox’ of AI adoption in manufacturing firms | MIT Sloan

Companies that adopt industrial artificial intelligence see productivity losses before longer-term gains, according to new research.

Companies rushed in on AI. Now some are pulling back

Rapid AI adoption left workers cleaning up a flood of errors and low-quality work

Thousands of CEOs admit AI had no impact on employment or productivity—and it has economists resurrecting a paradox from 40 years ago | Fortune

In the 1980s, economist Robert Solow made an observation that reminded economists of today’s AI boom: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”

Thousands of CEOs just admitted AI had no impact on employment or productivity—and it has economists resurrecting a paradox from 40 years ago | Fortune

In the 1980s, economist Robert Solow made an observation that reminded economists of today’s AI boom: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”

"AI" and Productivity

[I keep bringing these up on Bluesky, so I think it’s time to gather them up and make a post out of them.] This is a collection of articles...

The AI gender gap | Datawrapper Blog

In this Weekly Chart, we examine the gender gap in AI adoption.

AI adoption higher among men than women: Survey

This large gap — 81.3% compared to 58.8% — stems from the higher representation of women in skilled trades, where AI usage remains extremely low.

The Anthropic Economic Index

The Anthropic Economic Index reveals the shape of AI adoption across the world. Here, you can explore the data behind our research to understand how people are using Claude across every US state and hundreds of occupations. Track the topics that are trending where you live, and see how people are using AI to augment or automate their work—that is, whether they prefer to collaborate with, or delegate to, Claude.

Companies Are Being Torn Apart by AI "Workslop," Stanford Research Finds

Not only is AI hampering productivity, but it's also blowing up collaboration and souring employee dynamics.

Women and AI: The Gender Gap in AI Adoption and Recognition [Data]

Lean In’s survey shows how women are losing out in the AI age. Learn how women and men compare in AI adoption in the workplace, recognition, and more.

AI Values Dashboard

How leading AI models value different people, companies, countries, and groups.

Still Waters, Rapid Currents: Early Labor Market Transformation under Generative AI

We study the early labor market impacts of AI chatbots by linking large-scale adoption surveys to administrative labor market records in Denmark. We document rapid currents: most employers in exposed occupations have adopted chatbot initiatives, workers report productivity benefits, and new AI-related tasks are widespread. Yet these currents have not broken the surface: using difference-indifferences, we estimate precise null effects on earnings and recorded hours at both the worker and workplace levels, ruling out effects larger than 2% two years after the launch of ChatGPT. What moves is the structure of work: employers absorb AI through task reorganization—including new tasks in content generation, AI oversight, and AI integration—and adopters transition into higher-paying occupations where AI chatbots are more relevant, though still too few to move average earnings. Technological change reshapes work well before it surfaces in earnings or hours.

When everyone has AI and the company still learns nothing

Are people using AI, or is the organization learning from it? What changed because we spent those tokens? And who moves discoveries from individuals to teams to organizational capabilities?

Predictors of Artificial Intelligence Technology Adoption Behaviour among Female Entreprenuers in a Typical Emerging Market

Though artificial intelligence (AI) adoption among female entrepreneurs in emerging economies is still limited and poorly understood, AI presents revolutionary