By Watmore Makokoba
Schmidt Sciences has awarded more than $3 million to 19 real-world studies examining how artificial intelligence is transforming labor markets across the globe, the organisation announced Tuesday.
The AI at Work program will fund researchers from 16 institutions across eight countries to conduct field experiments in settings ranging from East African banks to Southeast Asian small businesses, Chilean government agencies, and American ride-share platforms competing with autonomous taxis.
Each awardee will receive up to $200,000 to study how emerging AI technology is affecting worker productivity, wages, employment, and careers. The goal is to uncover where AI can provide the greatest value to labor markets and the global economy, and where its impact will be felt most acutely.
“This technological revolution feels different,” said Michael Belinsky, director of the AI Institute at Schmidt Sciences. “Like previous revolutions, AI is automating tasks and amplifying human capabilities. But now modern AI tools affect not only routine manual activities, but also cognitive tasks.”
The selected researchers, chosen from more than 300 applicants, represent a variety of career levels from PhD candidates to professors. Their projects will employ randomized controlled trials and similar field methodologies over the next two years.
A distinguished review panel helped select the awardees, including MIT’s David Autor and Nobel Laureates in Economics Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, alongside University of Pennsylvania’s Ioana Marinescu, University of Chicago’s John List, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT, and research institution UNU-WIDER.
“AI is set to transform many aspects of our lives, and the problem is, we don’t know in what way,” Acemoglu said. “The labor market is particularly vulnerable. I applaud all the exciting research that these awardees are embarking on.”
Among the funded projects, Silvia Castro of INSEAD and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich will study how customized generative AI tools affect employee productivity and financial inclusion efforts at major East African banks. Richard Freund will explore whether an AI recruitment assistant can help Kenyan small and medium enterprises reduce hiring frictions and improve worker-firm matches.
In South Africa, Tim Kohler will conduct the first randomized controlled trial examining how an AI career guidance tool influences labor market outcomes for unemployed youth. Meanwhile, Simon Quach of the University of Southern California will use bank and credit card data to study how Uber and Lyft drivers adapt their earnings in response to competition from Waymo’s autonomous vehicles.
Several projects focus on vulnerable populations. Mitchell Hoffman of UC Santa Barbara will examine AI’s impact on productivity and compensation for disabled versus non-disabled food delivery workers. Joseph Levine and Johanna Barop, doctoral candidates at Oxford University, will study how low-income communities in Sierra Leone with limited connectivity can access AI models through text messages.
Other research will investigate AI’s role in government efficiency, scientific innovation, and workplace integration. Paul Gertler of UC Berkeley will collaborate with the Chilean government to test AI tools for making public procurement more transparent and inclusive. Jiarui Qian of the University of Virginia will examine how AI tools that automate research affect how scientists spend their time and allocate funding.
The selected projects will also inform ongoing collaboration between Schmidt Sciences, The Rockefeller Foundation, and other organizations on scenarios for AI’s impact on labor markets. Last October, the foundations convened economists, AI companies, and civic leaders at the Bellagio Center in Italy to develop strategies maximizing AI’s potential for the common good.
In addition to funding, Schmidt Sciences is providing awardees with connections to its grantee network, feedback on their projects, and access to computing support. The AI at Work program plans to issue additional calls for proposals in 2026.
Schmidt Sciences, a nonprofit founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, works to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs using advanced tools to support a thriving planet.