AI is advancing fast—and its impact on the labor market is increasing.

If we can understand how AI is already changing the world of work, we’re better prepared to engage with it moving forward. Data on job postings and skills cut through the noise and can show us the truth about AI—because adding a new AI skill to job descriptions is often a sign that a company has moved from experimenting with a new technology to making a real strategic commitment to it.

The annual AI Index Report from the Institute for Human-centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), part of the Digital Economy Lab at Stanford University, tracks, aggregates, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence. Its mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, broadly sourced data so that for policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public can develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI.

The report aims to be the world’s most authoritative source for data and insights about AI—and for where it intersects with the labor market, Stanford has turned to Lightcast. Thanks to our rich dataset of billions of job postings collected daily, coupled with granular and dynamic Lightcast taxonomies, we spot emerging trends globally before they even appear in official statistics.

AI Skills' Dramatic Uptick

Job postings make possible an analysis of specific skills, and this year we have a new most sought-after AI skill in the U.S. labor market. For the first time, "artificial intelligence" as a skill has surpassed machine learning, which has been the skill asked for most, since we began tracking these types of skills in 2010.

Also, of note, is the steep upswing in "generative AI", as a skill, from 0.05% in 2023 to 0.22% in 2024—growing by nearly a factor of four.

In fact, since last year, most AI-related skill clusters tracked by Lightcast have had an increase in market share, with the exception of autonomous driving and robotics.

Global Growth

Lightcast defines an AI job posting as any job posting that requires at least one skill in AI, such as machine learning or natural language processing. Most countries studied have seen large growth in AI job postings overall over the past several years and again in the past year. The U.S. labor market saw a 20% rise in demand for AI skills between 2023 and 2024, Canada 4% and the UK 2%.

The U.S. accounts for the largest number of AI job postings globally, and has one of the highest share of postings mentioning AI skills. In 2024, approximately 1.8% of job postings in the U.S. labor market mentioned AI related skills, only behind Singapore (3.2%), Luxembourg (2.0%) and Hong Kong (1.9%).