Complement or Substitute? How AI Increases the Demand for Human Skills

Complement or Substitute? How AI Increases the Demand for Human Skills | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Complement or Substitute? How AI Increases the Demand for Human Skills Fabian Stephany, Elina Mäkelä, Matthew Bone, Farah Nanji, Mareike Sehrer This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8893293/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the nature of work, yet there is limited empirical evidence on how it affects demand for human skills. This paper examines whether AI adoption increases the prevalence and value of human capabilities that complement technical AI skills, such as analytical thinking, resilience, or ethical judgment, within and beyond AI-intensive job roles. Using a dataset of nearly 30 million job postings from the US, the UK and Australia, between 2018 and 2024, we distinguish between internal effects (within AI roles) and external effects (in non-AI roles) across companies, industries, and regions. This paper has three main findings. First, we find that AI-intensive roles are significantly more likely to require complementary non-technical capabilities, such as analytical thinking, resilience, and digital literacy. Second, these complementary skills are associated with meaningful wage premiums, particularly in managerial, sales or finance roles working with AI. Third, we show that AI diffusion has potential spillover effects: as AI adoption rises within companies, industries, and regions, demand for complementary skills increases even in non-AI roles while demand for substitutable skills – summarisation, translation or customer service – decreases. These trends hold across geographies, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, confirming the robustness of our findings. Together, these findings indicate that AI is not simply replacing tasks or requiring more AI developer skills, it may be transforming workforce skill requirements to favor human attributes that enhance collaboration with intelligent systems. Social science/Economics Social science/Science, technology and society Business and commerce/Information systems and information technology Business and commerce/Economics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files ComplementSubstituteAppendix.pdf Supporting Information for Complement or Substitute? How AI Increases the Demand for Human Skills Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8893293","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605222899,"identity":"7760b0d2-be73-4286-8040-ef7353d02b1b","order_by":0,"name":"Fabian Stephany","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0713-6010","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabian","middleName":"","lastName":"Stephany","suffix":""},{"id":605222902,"identity":"f7117c82-ef8a-4b44-bc1a-0924c3979f17","order_by":1,"name":"Elina Mäkelä","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elina","middleName":"","lastName":"Mäkelä","suffix":""},{"id":605222904,"identity":"1118b8dc-4792-4889-b170-fd7522c1b3f7","order_by":2,"name":"Matthew Bone","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matthew","middleName":"","lastName":"Bone","suffix":""},{"id":605222906,"identity":"778bea86-de6f-4f0a-8a48-77143a861e78","order_by":3,"name":"Farah Nanji","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Farah","middleName":"","lastName":"Nanji","suffix":""},{"id":605222907,"identity":"b354afd8-b767-415e-923f-b5a7348fc25f","order_by":4,"name":"Mareike Sehrer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oxford","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mareike","middleName":"","lastName":"Sehrer","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-16 12:45:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8893293/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8893293/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104781969,"identity":"f5e3cb1a-5059-4a47-9e58-159a1086a121","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 07:56:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1140692,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"ComplementSubstituteNHB.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8893293/v1_covered_2d52bcdb-4beb-42a5-a058-b74bf7e83da7.pdf"},{"id":104583037,"identity":"bbb51ad2-13bb-468c-bb7e-ec80b54815d9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-13 15:17:34","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":7353718,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supporting Information for Complement or Substitute? 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This paper examines whether AI adoption increases the prevalence and value of human capabilities that complement technical AI skills, such as analytical thinking, resilience, or ethical judgment, within and beyond AI-intensive job roles. Using a dataset of nearly 30 million job postings from the US, the UK and Australia, between 2018 and 2024, we distinguish between internal effects (within AI roles) and external effects (in non-AI roles) across companies, industries, and regions. This paper has three main findings. First, we find that AI-intensive roles are significantly more likely to require complementary non-technical capabilities, such as analytical thinking, resilience, and digital literacy. Second, these complementary skills are associated with meaningful wage premiums, particularly in managerial, sales or finance roles working with AI. Third, we show that AI diffusion has potential spillover effects: as AI adoption rises within companies, industries, and regions, demand for complementary skills increases even in non-AI roles while demand for substitutable skills – summarisation, translation or customer service – decreases. These trends hold across geographies, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, confirming the robustness of our findings. Together, these findings indicate that AI is not simply replacing tasks or requiring more AI developer skills, it may be transforming workforce skill requirements to favor human attributes that enhance collaboration with intelligent systems.","manuscriptTitle":"Complement or Substitute? 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