Understanding the AI economy

Google launched a new study called ATLAS to see how people are actually using AI in their daily lives and jobs. They found that most people use AI to help with ... Understanding the AI economy Jul 23, 2026 | Google’s ATLAS is an expansive look at how people are using AI at work and in day-to-day life --- Zanna Iscenko AI & Economy Lead, Chief Economist's Office Scott Strand Head of StratOps and Special Projects, Technology & Society Share --- Listen to article duration minutes This content is generated by Google AI

Details

Generative AI is experimental There is broad agreement that AI’s potential to transform the global economy and the way we work is significant However, the outcomes – what this means for work, for people’s lives, and the economy writ large – are not automatic nor guaranteed To get there, we as a society must work together to positively shape how AI impacts our lives, jobs, and economy

Context

In order for this shared work to be effective, it is critical to have a rich understanding of how AI is being adopted and used in the economy Society needs empirical insights and evidence-based research to inform decisions, initiatives, and actions To help, Google is launching the first iteration of the AI & Economy ATLAS Activity, Task, Landscape, and Adoption Study, an ongoing, large-scale, de-identified study of how people are using Google’s AI products and tools

Impact

ATLAS’s first dataset v1.0 is built from 15 million aggregated and de-identified human-AI interactions across the Gemini App, AI Mode, and the Gemini API, which together are used by more than 1 billion people monthly ATLAS v1.0 insights span more than 150 countries, 140 languages, 800 occupations, and 4,000 tasks; ATLAS is the most comprehensive look to date at how real people are using AI at scale

What's Next

ATLAS sheds light on how people are using Google’s AI tools for various tasks at work and in their day-to-day lives The ATLAS v1.0 report provides an early view of a quickly moving landscape: AI’s capabilities are advancing, its use is evolving, and tools for observing its impact on the economy are still a work-in-progress Here a few of the most interesting observations so far: AI use at work is broad but shallow: Workplace adoption spans all industry sectors and also 68% of all occupations that collectively represent 90% of total U.S

Background

However within jobs, people are using AI selectively: in a typical job AI is used for only ~21% of tasks At work, most AI use is focused on collaboration and assistance with tasks, and so far task automation is uncommon: ATLAS data shows the vast majority of AI interactions at work focus on collaborative uses such as ideation, strategy, information retrieval, and learning

Analysis

Tasks like creative design and hypothesis testing categorized in ATLAS as “non-routine cognitive” show up in AI work interactions at a much higher rate than in the economy as a whole 65% vs 35% Less than 10% of those interactions fully automate tasks AI use is not limited to white collar workers, it’s also assisting workers in predominantly physical and manual occupations with adjacent tasks: AI use for work is not limited to jobs traditionally seen as knowledge work

More

While not as prevalent, workers in manual and technical trades e.g., auto technicians, industrial mechanics are using conversational AI as a live collaborator for real-time diagnostics, troubleshooting, and on-the-fly learning When workers in these areas use our AI tools, they’re 2x more likely to use multimodal AI i.e For example, automotive technicians and industrial mechanics use AI to interpret complex test results, debug electrical wiring, and inspect machinery for wear