Trend · rank 53 of 250

AI & knowledge-work automation

AI systems are carrying out more multi-step professional tasks with little supervision, changing occupational demand and making national workforce capability depend on complementary skills rather than qualifications alone.

Human CapitalPeople, health & workaiwork skillsinequality

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was AI agents & knowledge-work automation. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
53of 250
Sensitivity
10.8rank 89
Breadth
2of 20 scenarios High or above, 1 Critical
PageRank
52.2rank 39
Eigenvector
3.4
Betweenness
27.3
Links
19trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
29.7

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
179
Over a year
+42%Surging
Over three years
+213%
Peak
21913 Sept 2026
Sources
Bothagreement 0.84
Coverage
9languages · 55 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (9 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English51%191+53%
French11%120+25%
Japanese10%116+49%
Russian8%104+10%
Chinese6%124+56%
Spanish6%100+7%
Italian4%80−9%
German2%215+149%
Portuguese1%141+19%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Singapore

South Korea

China

Netherlands

United States

Israel

United Arab Emirates

Australia

Canada

Pakistan

United Kingdom

India

100

93

62

51

49

33

33

30

29

29

27

24

The 12 highest of 55 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English181−9%+18%+387%
EuropeGoogle in 9 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian157−31%+73%+196%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 10 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese149−33%+94%+160%
South AsiaGoogle in 3 countries198−15%+52%+1373%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 3 countries169−50%+93%+7013%
AfricaGoogle in 2 countries245+2%+108%+4493%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese159−25%+72%+267%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian104+12%+10%+6%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle168−49%+81%+1618%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese175−11%+56%+398%
CanadaGoogle188−34%+69%+1323%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French133−43%+46%+193%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German207−17%+149%+296%
IndiaGoogle174−21%+24%+776%
IndonesiaGoogle60−44%−40%−59%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian137−41%+63%+114%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese137−60%+182%+264%
South KoreaGoogle213−41%+216%+2701%
MexicoGoogle197−45%+182%+5093%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian104+12%+10%+6%
South AfricaGoogle183−21%+63%+2527%
TürkiyeGoogle172−53%+212%+8951%
United KingdomGoogle270+4%+187%+1793%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English178−7%+7%+385%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
6 · CriticalAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
5 · Very highAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
2 · LowA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highGraduate skill mismatchPeople, health & work178
4 · HighEntrenched opportunity inequalityPeople, health & work9
4 · HighGeneral-purpose AI capabilityAI, compute & quantum95
4 · HighLifelong learning & digital reskillingPeople, health & work132
4 · HighFoundational learning deficitsPeople, health & work162
3 · ModerateTechnical & occupational skill shortagesPeople, health & work19
3 · ModerateCapital concentration in AIAI, compute & quantum67
3 · ModerateAI safety & governanceState capacity & governance69
3 · ModerateAutomated AI researchAI, compute & quantum83
3 · ModerateInformal employment persistencePeople, health & work84
3 · ModerateCompute scaling & AI infrastructureAI, compute & quantum133
3 · ModerateYouth population expansionPeople, health & work146
3 · ModerateFrontier model concentrationAI, compute & quantum168
3 · ModerateAI inference efficiencyAI, compute & quantum170
3 · ModerateYouth employment exclusionPeople, health & work177
3 · ModerateGender participation divergencePeople, health & work192
3 · ModerateSkilled & research talent migrationPeople, health & work208
3 · ModerateGeneral-purpose & humanoid roboticsAI, compute & quantum225
3 · ModerateRetail & food-service automationPeople, health & work246