MIT study shows AI agents boost worker productivity by 60%

A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reveals that pairing employees with AI agents can boost individual productivity by 60% while improving the quality of work output. The research, published in a report, compared human-AI teams against human-only teams in a task involving ad creation for a think tank.

Key Findings

• 60% higher productivity per worker in human-AI teams
• 23% fewer social messages exchanged in human-AI collaborations
• Higher-quality ad copy produced by human-AI teams
• Human-only teams still produced better-quality images

AI Personality Traits Matter

The study also examined how AI personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) affect outcomes:

• Conscientious humans + open AI agents improved image quality
• Extroverted humans + conscientious AI agents reduced quality across text, images, and clicks

Harang Ju, a postdoc associate at MIT Sloan and co-author, emphasized the need for personalized AI agents:

"Not everyone's going to get the same AI... Everyone's different, and so AI should be different too." (Bloomberg interview)

Workplace Implications

The findings come amid rapid AI adoption in workplaces. While AI agents enhance productivity, concerns persist about their potential to replace human jobs. White House AI czar David Sacks noted AI agents will continue improving in capabilities, likely automating parts of jobs rather than entire roles.

For more on AI's workplace impact, see related coverage on agentic AI threats.