Small businesses that use artificial intelligence are reporting changes to employees’ roles, with 73% of respondents saying AI had affected roles and responsibilities and 70% reporting an effect on job-performance expectations, according to U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation findings. Sixty-five percent said AI had affected hiring and personnel decisions.
Survey methodology and data limits
Ipsos surveyed 750 U.S. small-business owners and operators online from May 19 to June 4. The sample covered companies with up to 500 employees, excluding sole proprietorships, and was weighted to the U.S. small-business population.
The poll’s credibility interval of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points applies to all 750 respondents.
Reinvesting time and quality gains
Among AI-using employers, 54% described a mostly positive effect on task-completion time, 50% on employees’ ability to undertake more challenging work and 47% on work quality. Mostly negative responses ranged from 3% to 4%.
Among employers reporting a mostly positive effect on task-completion time or work quality, 65% said employees used the gain to produce more or higher-quality work. Fifty-six percent reported more learning, planning or review, while 38% reported stretch assignments or new responsibilities. Thirty-six percent said the time helped employees avoid overtime and 30% reported more breaks or personal tasks. Respondents could select more than one outcome.
A separate Foundation survey of 1,070 small-business employees showed a similar pattern. Among workers reporting time or quality gains, 59% said they produced more or better work, 43% used the gain for learning or review and 27% took on added responsibilities.
Missing hard productivity metrics
The Chamber’s released AI module records respondent assessments rather than observed changes in hours, output, compensation or retention. It does not request before-and-after productivity figures. The employer and worker findings came from separate surveys, and the published materials do not provide matched employer-worker data.
Comparisons with other economic studies
A Census Center for Economic Studies working paper found that, among firms reporting AI-related effects on tasks, 66% reported augmentation without task substitution or creation. Across firms, 2% reported AI-related employment decreases. Among firms using AI in at least one business function, 57% used it in no more than three functions.
A separate NBER field experiment covered 66 large firms and 7,137 knowledge workers, rather than small businesses. Active users of a generative AI tool spent two fewer hours on email each week and reduced time in the measured Microsoft applications outside regular hours.
Beyond those savings, the authors wrote, “we do not detect shifts in the quantity or composition of workers’ tasks.” The paper disclosed that some authors were employed by Microsoft, the toolmaker.