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Generative AI and Career Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Gschwendt, Christian

    (University of Bern)

  • Viarengo, Martina

    (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)

  • Zollner, Thea S.

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

The economic impact of technological change will critically depend on how future workers invest in their human capital. Yet, little is known about how future workers themselves evaluate and choose their educational and occupational paths in light of emerging technologies. This paper examines how adolescents currently at the school-to-work transition stage value working with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in their future occupations, and how automation risk and opportunities for continuing education shape these preferences. We field a discrete-choice experiment among a nationally representative sample of over 7,000 Swiss adolescents aged around 15. We find that adolescents generally exhibit an aversion to collaborating with GenAI at work, with females consistently more averse than males. However, preferences are nuanced: adolescents welcome greater GenAI collaboration, provided that GenAI usage levels remain moderate and that it is not accompanied by increases in job automation risk. Finally, our findings suggest that AI-related educational opportunities in occupations improve attitudes towards working with GenAI across genders.

Suggested Citation

  • Gschwendt, Christian & Viarengo, Martina & Zollner, Thea S., 2026. "Generative AI and Career Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 18456, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18456
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    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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