We’ve all heard about the stories of artificial intelligence (AI) and the job market. However, whereas much research on the economic impacts of AI are oriented around productivity, unemployment, and wages, there is very little analysis of job search and unemployment duration. In this research project, I will exploit variation in industry AI-exposure and use monthly unemployment duration data in the United States to perform an event study and a continuous differences-in-differences analysis on the effect of ChatGPT's release on unemployment duration. I hypothesize unemployment duration to increase due to higher applicant competition and noise.

Time permitting, I will perform robustness tests and further in-depth analysis on the specific mechanisms through which AI affects unemployment duration. By employing cutting-edge econometric research to the analysis of AI’s impact on the economy, I hope to provide a greater understanding of unemployment duration, enabling colleges and companies to develop policies that increase job search and application processing efficiency.