The Washington Center for Equitable Growth today announced a new cohort of grantees studying how artificial intelligence and new technology can support workers and promote competition across the U.S. economy. These researchers seek to generate actionable insights that policymakers can use as they navigate the era of AI innovation and emerging technologies and the impact of AI adoption on U.S. workers.

The grants were awarded to 12 scholars across five different projects in research areas ranging from how U.S. firms are using generative AI to the relationship between AI and worker voice and power to implications for competition dynamics within and beyond digital markets. The grants about AI adoption for U.S. workers include:

  • Competitive implications of generative AI terms and conditions: An empirical study. University of Miami’s Andres Sawicki and University of Memphis’s John Newman will study the terms and conditions of more than 100 generative AI firms and document the potential legal limitations they impose on how people utilize their AI products and services. These terms could pose significant competition challenges by depriving users of the right to bring antitrust claims against generative AI firms and by imposing noncompete restrictions on users, raising barriers to entry and increasing the likelihood of concentration in AI markets. Newman and Sawicki will perform a systematic review and offer responsive policy proposals.
  • Tracking generative AI adoption at work. Vanderbilt University’s Adam Blandin, Harvard University’s David Deming, and Alexander Bick of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis will enhance the Real-Time Population Survey, the first nationally representative survey tracking generative AI adoption in U.S. workplaces. They will field three additional surveys over the coming 3 years to track adoption and use of AI tools as the industry changes rapidly, developing innovative questions on how generative AI changes and interacts with workers’ tasks and responsibilities in new ways. Their findings could shed light on the labor market impacts of these new technologies as they adapt to U.S. economic needs, as well as inform workforce development and social insurance policies.

Read the full article about research about AI adoption in the U.S. at Equitable Growth.