MIT Study Finds AI Could Replace 12% of U.S. Workers, But Current Adoption Reaches Only 2%

MIT researchers reveal AI technology could currently replace nearly 12% of U.S. workers based on a massive digital simulation of 151 million employees, yet businesses have only adopted AI for 2% of the labor market's wage value, creating a significant gap between AI's potential displacement and actual implementation.

• MIT researchers publish a study claiming that existing AI technology can replace 11.7% of U.S. labor, though current AI adoption only accounts for 2.2% of labor market wage value
• The study uses Large Population Models running on Oak Ridge National Laboratory processors to create a 'digital twin' of the U.S. labor market, tracking 151 million workers with 32,000 skills
• Researchers acknowledge their findings are correlational rather than causal and have limitations, but argue policymakers must act immediately without waiting for more definitive evidence