# AI-exposed jobs deteriorated before ChatGPT

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02554 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.02554/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 5 Jan 2026.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Who Delegates to AI? Evidence from Agent Configurations in Github](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.20425/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Public debate links worsening job prospects for AI-exposed occupations to the release of ChatGPT in late 2022. Using monthly U.S. unemployment insurance records, we measure occupation- and location-specific unemployment risk and find that risk rose in AI-exposed occupations beginning in early 2022, months before ChatGPT. Analyzing millions of LinkedIn profiles, we show that graduate cohorts from 2021 onward entered AI-exposed jobs at lower rates than earlier cohorts, with gaps opening before late 2022. Finally, from millions of university syllabi, we find that graduates taking more AI-exposed curricula had higher first-job pay and shorter job searches after ChatGPT. Together, these results point to forces pre-dating generative AI and to the ongoing value of LLM-relevant education.