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The MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE)
Shaping a brighter digital future.
About the IDE

AI Automation and Vision Tasks

MIT IDE research lead, Neil Thompson, co-authored a paper estimating human worker displacement when AI is introduced for computer vision tasks. The study found the impact to be less dramatic than others have reported. Here are three takeaways:

How many?

23%

Percent of worker wages that would be cost-effective to automate with AI computer vision.

How much?

20%

Estimated decrease In annual computer vision AI costs.

When?

2044

Even with a 20% annual decrease in costs, it would take decades for computer vision tasks to become economically efficient for firms.

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