One in Five US Workers Now Delegate Tasks to AI Over Human Colleagues

One in five employed adults in the United States now delegate at least one work task to artificial intelligence that was previously handled by a contractor or coworker. This shift indicates that AI is increasingly becoming a primary point of delegation for professional responsibilities.

According to a survey conducted by Epoch AI and Ipsos, 20% of employed US adults have reallocated specific tasks to AI. The data reveals that the most common functions shifted from humans to AI include analyzing data (7.1%), reading work documents (5.7%), and maintaining records (5.3%). Adoption rates vary significantly by role; for instance, 57% of workers designing software or systems utilize AI, compared to 25% of those responsible for maintaining records.

The Integration of AI Workflows

The study, which surveyed 1,106 employed US adults between July 10 and 19, 2026, utilized the Ipsos KnowledgePanel and tasks from the US Department of Labor's O*NET database. The findings suggest that AI is not typically replacing entire job roles, but is instead being integrated into specific parts of existing workflows.

Efficiency gains are closely tied to the depth of delegation. The research found that time savings are more frequent when AI handles most or all of a task (53%) than when it merely assists with a portion of the work (37%). Despite this, the reliance on human oversight remains present, although 66% of AI-generated outputs are currently used either unchanged or with only minor edits.

Implications for the Modern Office

This trend signals a fundamental change in workplace dynamics, reducing the traditional reliance on human colleagues for routine analytical or administrative tasks. By acting as a versatile assistant rather than a wholesale replacement, AI is facilitating a reallocation of labor within the office. This suggests that the immediate impact of generative AI is the fragmentation of tasks—where the "grunt work" is offloaded—rather than the total displacement of the worker.

Future Outlook

As AI adoption continues to penetrate different sectors of knowledge work, the industry will likely see further shifts in how teams are structured and how tasks are distributed. While the current data shows AI functioning primarily as a support tool, the high rate of unchanged AI output suggests a growing trust in automated results. Observers will need to monitor whether this delegation expands from specific task fragments to entire professional processes, potentially altering the long-term demand for entry-level analytical roles.