Skip to content
You can now search across every topic, entity and event.What's new
SIEPR
OrganisationUS

SIEPR

Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, an independent policy research centre at Stanford University.

SIEPR is Stanford's economic policy research centre whose studies find AI splitting workers into two camps: those using it to automate tasks lose jobs, those using it to augment their own work gain them.

Last refreshed: 17 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

What does Stanford's SIEPR research actually say about who loses work to AI?

Timeline for SIEPR

View full timeline →
Follow AI: Jobs, Power & Money →

Background

The Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) was established in 1994 within Stanford University's School of Humanities and Sciences. It funds independent research by Stanford economists and hosts policy forums connecting academic work with government and business decision-makers. Its sibling institution, the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, conducts complementary empirical research on AI's economic effects, and SIEPR affiliate Erik Brynjolfsson is among the most prominent economists studying AI and productivity.

SIEPR has become one of the most cited academic sources in the debate on AI's impact on employment. Its research distinguishes between workers who use AI to automate tasks, whose employment has fallen, and those who use it to augment their own capabilities, whose employment has grown, a nuance that cuts against both AI-utopian and AI-doomerist framings. A separate SIEPR study tracking 200,000 US households found that ChatGPT users spent saved time on leisure rather than skill development, complicating optimistic productivity narratives.

SIEPR's annual Economic Summit draws policymakers alongside academic economists, and its work is regularly cited by Federal Reserve governors and Treasury officials when framing AI's macroeconomic implications, giving it an outsized role in shaping how Washington talks about AI and jobs.

Common Questions
What has SIEPR found about AI and jobs?
SIEPR research has found that employment falls for workers who use AI to automate tasks but grows for those who use it to learn new skills or augment existing work. A separate study tracking 200,000 households found that ChatGPT users spent time saved on leisure rather than upskilling.Source: SIEPR research reports 2025–2026
Who is Erik Brynjolfsson and what does he say about AI?
Erik Brynjolfsson is a Stanford economist and SIEPR affiliate who studies AI, productivity, and labour markets. He co-authored The Second Machine Age and has argued that AI can increase productivity significantly, but that the gains depend heavily on how firms and workers adapt.Source: SIEPR
What did SIEPR's 2026 Economic Summit say about AI workers?
At its March 2026 summit, SIEPR brought together economists to assess AI's employment impact. Key findings included that unemployment is rising more slowly for the most AI-exposed occupations than for other workers, and that the Nature of AI use, automation versus augmentation, is the primary determinant of job outcomes.Source: Stanford Report / SIEPR summit coverage, March 2026
Source Material
AI and the Economy — SIEPR Policy ForumStanford Institute for Economic Policy Research