AIORG-W008 Working papers AI × management and organizations

Shifting Work Patterns with Generative AI

Eleanor Wiske Dillon · Sonia Jaffe · Nicole Immorlica · Christopher Stanton

Also recorded as: NBER w33795 · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5250761 · doi:10.3386/w33795 · nber:w33795 · ssrn:5250761

working paper abstract and pdf · 2025-05-13

Recorded claims
3
coded from the inspected source
Evidence classes
3
scholarly-full-text, adverse-or-corrective, ssrn-abstract-page
Recorded limitations
7
stated, never hidden

From the hash-bound evidence releases

Recorded claims

Each claim states what the inspected source says, at the recorded location—bounded by its scope and graded by its confidence. Nothing here is a synthesis across works.

Across 66 firms and 7,137 workers followed for six months, approximately 80% of treated workers used the tool; among users, the intervention reduced email time by roughly two hours per week and reduced after-hours work.

confidence: high within study scholarly-full-text apw-r0-seed

Scope: Knowledge workers in participating firms over six months; time use rather than output quality or profit.

The study detected no consequential change in the quantity or composition of work tasks beyond individual time savings, an organization-level null that cautions against assuming tool rollout alone produces workflow redesign.

confidence: medium-high adverse-or-corrective apw-r0-seed

Scope: Measured tasks and six-month window; absence of detected redesign is not proof that redesign cannot occur.

In a six-month cross-industry randomized field experiment, half of 7,137 knowledge workers received access to a generative-AI tool; the abstract reports less email time among sustained users, moderately faster document completion, and no significant change in meeting time.

confidence: high ssrn-abstract-page apw-e1-ssrn-backfill

Scope: Universe and denominator: 7,137 knowledge workers overall, with half assigned access; unit: worker; period: six months; exact arm counts and the sustained-user subgroup denominator are not displayed.

Structured relationships

In-corpus citations

Only source-supplied cites relationships whose two endpoints are admitted are shown. Invocation evidence remains a separate relationship.

Cites (0)

No in-corpus outgoing citation is available in the current enrichment coverage.

Cited by (0)

No in-corpus incoming citation is available in the current enrichment coverage.

Boundaries

Limitations & independence

Recorded at coding time, carried with the work forever. A claim without its limits is not evidence.

Recorded limitations

  • Abstract-level evidence only; full text was not inspected.
  • Author/product conflict disclosed
  • Digital-trace measures may miss offline work
  • No direct firm financial outcome
  • Six-month horizon
  • The sustained-user comparison is conditioned on use; exact assignment counts, take-up denominator, uncertainty, and document-task denominator are not displayed.
  • Treatment take-up was incomplete

Source independence

Academic field experiment across firms; some authors are Microsoft employees and the intervention concerns a Microsoft product.