The Lightcast Approach to AI

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how work is done–and how employers find and manage workers. At Lightcast, we have 20 years of experience in guiding employers, educators, and governments in using advanced tools to develop talent. Here you’ll receive resources and guidance on how to use AI in the labor market.

AI collage of man walking

Lightcast Sectors: Artificial Intelligence


Lightcast Sectors
are sections of the labor market that are of particular interest but that are not easily quantifiable using traditional occupations or industry hierarchies.


Sectors are based on industry experience, and are developed by Lightcast economists and researchers in collaboration with industry experts. These sectors are often used to drive public research released by Lightcast on particular sections of the labor market.

Sectors are available in our Lightcast Analyst product, for US job postings only. Sectors may be defined with a combination of industries, occupations, skills, certifications, and more posting-based filters that are not easily replicable via a standard interface.


We recently deployed Lightcast Sector: Artificial Intelligence. It is built from work done with Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence in the development of the Stanford AI Index. Primarily based on skills, this sector helps users understand the growth of AI-related skills across the labor market. This sector includes skills related to AI, Autonomous Driving, Natural Language Processing, Neural Networks, Machine Learning, Robotics, and Visual Image Recognition. [latest update: March 2024]


Using the Artificial Intelligence sector, users can view how AI skills are impacting specific parts of any segment of the labor market, including localized demand, demand within specific industries, and changes across occupations as AI becomes increasingly prevalent. 

AI Skills, A Global View

The continued innovation and adoption of AI technologies is transforming the world of work. But how is this being reflected in global labor markets? Where are the changes most apparent? What are the implications for organizations as they try to plan for a future-ready workforceThe Lightcast Global AI Skills Outlook is a highly interactive page looking at employer demand for AI skills across 16 labor markets in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific to provide answers to these questions. 

AI Skills Focus

AI for HR

A smart guide to using artificial intelligence in HR and predictions on what's to come from the data experts at Lightcast. This resource provides talent managers with fundamental principles and key strategies for getting the most out of AI solutions.

Responsible AI

Responsible AI video

The Stanford AI Index

An independent initiative at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence that provides a global benchmark for how society is dealing with AI. Lightcast provides the data analysis behind the index’s examination of AI’s impact on jobs.

AI Stanford Index 2024

Global AI Trends

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the future of work, and that’s not limited to one industry or region: it’s happening everywhere, from Singapore and the UK to the US and Sweden.

AI in the UK

Growth in AI skills has catalysed transformative trends in the skills required of workers across the full spectrum of occupations and industries. To shed some light on these trends, Lightcast has published a report looking at the adoption and diffusion of AI skills across the UK labour market. Track the adoption and spread of artificial intelligence skills in the UK job market using our interactive tool:

Map showing frequency of AI postings and skills by UK region

Our Responsibility Statement

Lightcast has developed a set of Responsible AI principles it will apply to AI development in the labor market.

AI must be transparent and explainable.

AI decisions must be explainable to humans. We believe people will work alongside artificial intelligence, rather than be replaced by it. This makes it crucial that our clients and users should be able to clearly understand both the conclusions AI applications reach and the process used to reach them.


AI must be accurate, broad-based, and free from bias.

AI should be a trustworthy tool for humans, whether they be talent managers, public officials, educators, or workers trying to chart a path for their future.

Yet artificial intelligence is only as good as the data sets it uses to draw conclusions. To be accurate, AI has to draw on data sets that are large enough to provide an adequate base of knowledge. In addition, both the source data and the AI engine itself must be free from conscious or unconscious bias that might skew conclusions.

This is vital when AI is used to make decisions about human capital. Choices about hiring, promotion, economic development, and education have an enormous impact on the lives of millions. It is unacceptable for AI to reinforce existing barriers to opportunity or to create new ones.


AI must enhance human opportunities in the job market, not diminish them.

The practical application of AI in the labor market should be designed to result in a net gain of opportunity for human workers. Historically, technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed. Artificial intelligence should follow that pattern. AI will certainly take on tasks once performed by humans, but it will also create new tasks and demand new skills from workers. 

In the labor market, artificial intelligence should be designed to identify those new skills and find the most efficient ways for workers to gain knowledge, become more productive, and capitalize on opportunities yet to be created. The goal of Lightcast AI is to allow managers to develop workers and workers to develop their own potential.


Every Lightcaster is a custodian of our AI policies.

Our Responsible AI principles will be built into our products by design. In line with our philosophy of “own everything, hide nothing,” every Lightcast staff member is empowered to raise concerns and suggest advances in artificial intelligence.

Why Artificial Intelligence Will Make Tech Workers More Human

"When we think about worker disruption at the hands of AI, most people ask which jobs will be automated out of existence. However, jobs are the wrong unit of analysis. Many jobs won’t be going anywhere—it will be the underlying skills within these jobs that change." - Will Markow, Vice President of Applied Research

2023 Global Talent Playbook

Prepare for the challenges and opportunities of 2023 and level up your team’s workforce intelligence with the latest recruitment and hiring trends.

Lightcast 2023 Global Talent Playbook

Emerging Trends In AI: Lightcast x OECD

Demand for AI skills is growing across the globe, and job postings show us how. The international research coalition OECD uses Lightcast data to understand how this revolutionary demand is taking shape.

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Let's Talk AI

AI: A Global Shift, Powered by People

AI: A Global Shift, Powered by People video