Microsoft researchers: To fend off AI, consider a job as a pile driver

Microsoft researchers have found that people get the most use of AI for writing and knowledge work, but they offer some comfort to worried white-collar workers, saying that their jobs may only change rather than go away completely.

The researchers analyzed more than 200,000 anonymized interactions with Bing Copilot, Microsoft's AI search engine assistant, which summarizes search results and provides answers rather than lists of web pages – similar to the AI Overviews in Google Search. They focused on measuring the applicability of generative AI to common work activities such as "Getting Information," "Communicating with People Outside the Organization," and "Performing for or Working Directly with the Public." They then mapped that data to specific occupations.

Overall, they found that the answers provided by Bing Copilot are more applicable to occupations that require at least a bachelor's degree. And they are least applicable to healthcare support and jobs ...