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The AI Transformation is More Likely to Increase Rather Than Reduce Human Work

Author

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  • Kauhanen, Antti
  • Rouvinen, Petri

Abstract

AI is transforming professions, organizational structures, and business models, but it will neither eliminate human work nor cause average earnings to collapse. AI will automate some existing tasks, but it will also complement human work, boost productivity, and create entirely new jobs. The combined effect of these forces on the overall amount of human work is likely to be positive. Results based on monthly data covering the entire Finnish labor market provide no evidence that the adoption of generative AI has yet affected wages or employment. The broader AI-driven transformation of the labor market appears to lie ahead. The challenge is that technological capabilities are advancing considerably faster than our capacity to adapt. Finland’s greatest AI-related risk is not mass unemployment but slow adoption of AI. AI’s full potential can be realized only by simultaneously redesigning work practices, organizational structures, and business models.

Suggested Citation

  • Kauhanen, Antti & Rouvinen, Petri, 2026. "The AI Transformation is More Likely to Increase Rather Than Reduce Human Work," ETLA Brief 187, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:rif:briefs:187
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • 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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