Abstract Recent evidence indicates an upsurge in artificial intelligence and robotics (AI) patenting activities in the latest years, suggesting that solutions based on AI technologies might have started to exert an effect on the economy. We test this hypothesis using a worldwide sample of 5257 companies having filed at least a patent related to the field of AI between 2000 and 2016. Our analysis shows that, once controlling for other patenting activities, AI patent applications generate an extra-positive effect on companies’ labor productivity. The effect concentrates on SMEs and services industries, suggesting that the ability to quickly readjust and introduce AI-based applications in the production process is an important determinant of the impact of AI observed to date.
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