Economic Research
The Economic Research team studies how AI is reshaping the economy, including work, productivity, and economic opportunity. Through rigorous data collection and analysis, we track AI's real-world economic effects and publish research that helps policymakers, businesses, and the public understand and prepare for the changes ahead.
What We Do
We build the empirical foundation for understanding AI's economic impact. Our flagship Anthropic Economic Index tracks how AI tools are actually being used around the world and across every sector of the economy—moving beyond speculation to measure adoption patterns as they unfold. Alongside our index reports, we produce novel research that studies the implications of AI usage and diffusion—as tracked in the index—for workers, for firms, and for the broader economy.
Why It Matters
Economic transitions create both opportunity and disruption. The speed of AI development means the stakes are unusually high. We need reliable data to inform the decisions that workers, employers, and policymakers make about the future. Our research provides evidence to address uncertainty and helps society navigate this transition in ways that are broadly beneficial.
Estimating AI productivity gains from Claude conversations
Analyzing 100,000 Claude conversations, this research finds AI reduces task time by 80% on average. If universally adopted over 10 years, current models could increase US labor productivity growth by 1.8% annually—doubling recent rates. Knowledge work like software development and management see the largest gains.
Anthropic Economic Index report: Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption
This report reveals that Claude usage has shifted toward educational and scientific tasks with users delegating complete tasks rather than collaborating, while showing AI adoption concentrated in wealthy regions and analyzing enterprise API patterns for the first time.
Anthropic Economic Index: Insights from Claude 3.7 Sonnet
Increased Claude 3.7 Sonnet usage for coding, education, and science since launch. Extended thinking mode favors technical tasks. New datasets reveal automation patterns across 630 granular usage categories.
The Anthropic Economic Index
The Anthropic Economic Index analyzes millions of Claude.ai conversations showing AI usage concentrated in software development and technical writing, touching 25%+ of tasks in 36% of occupations. AI leans toward augmentation (57%) over automation (43%).
Publications
- Estimating AI productivity gains from Claude conversations
- Anthropic Economic Index report: Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption
- Anthropic Economic Index: Tracking AI’s role in the US and global economy
- Anthropic Economic Index: AI’s impact on software development
- Anthropic Economic Index: Insights from Claude 3.7 Sonnet
- The Anthropic Economic Index