New data: AI adoption widens gap between high and low earners

High-earning, experienced workers are adopting artificial intelligence tools at work far faster than their lower-paid colleagues, raising concerns that the technology could deepen existing inequalities rather than reduce them. Madhumita Murgia and John Burn-Murdoch report for the Financial Times.

A poll of 4,000 workers in the United States and United Kingdom found that more than 60 percent of the highest-paid employees use AI daily. Among the lowest earners, that figure drops to just 16 percent. The survey is part of a new monthly AI workforce tracker produced by the Financial Times and research company Focaldata.

The data also reveals a persistent gender gap. Men are significantly more likely than women to use AI tools across sectors including technology, education and retail. Research cited in the article shows women are approximately 20 percent less likely to use AI than men, though the causes remain unclear.

Daron Acemoglu, Nobel laureate in economics and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, challenges the widespread idea that AI will democratise opportunity. “You require a certain degree of education, abstract and quantitative skills, familiarity with computers and coding in order to be using the models,” he says. He warns that AI “is going to increase inequality between labour and capital” and calls the current trajectory a potential “shitshow.”

The survey found that usage differences appear most strongly between occupations rather than within them. Lawyers, accountants and software developers use AI at comparable rates regardless of seniority. However, they use it far more than lower-paid workers in the same industries.

Contrary to expectations, the heaviest AI users at work are not the youngest employees. Workers in their thirties with longer job tenures use AI the most. This suggests the technology benefits those who already possess deep expertise. Ronni Chatterji, chief economist at OpenAI, says this aligns with the company’s own observations that AI complements existing proficiency rather than replacing it.

This pattern raises a particular concern about career development. Work previously handled by junior employees is increasingly being performed by AI at the direction of senior staff. New workers may therefore lose the opportunity to build foundational skills.

Chris Pissarides, Nobel Prize-winning economics professor at the London School of Economics, argues that advanced technology rewards intelligence more than simpler tools ever did. “The more intelligent technology we invent, the more your intelligence matters,” he says.

Economic historian Carl Benedikt Frey draws a comparison to the personal computing revolution, when a similar divide eventually narrowed as technology spread. He warns, however, that if the current gap takes a decade or two to close, the consequences could be significant.

Corporate training emerged as the single biggest driver of AI adoption at work. One study found that a targeted training session for UK workers tripled daily AI use among women over 55, pointing to a practical path toward closing both the gender and income divides.