OpenAI's economic research team, led by chief economist Ronnie Chatterji, is actively recruiting researchers who can adapt to AI's rapid evolution while maintaining strong analytical skills. According to reports from Business Insider, the team studies AI's impact on jobs, businesses, and the broader economy. Chatterji emphasized that understanding AI's impact on jobs represents a specialized field in itself, with employees tasked with examining how technology affects workers, businesses, institutions, and the economy at large. The team's work is evolving alongside AI, with topics that were not previously part of its research agenda quickly becoming important as technology advances.
As reported by Business Insider, Chatterji outlined that successful candidates must be comfortable working on questions without straightforward answers and possess what he termed 'comfort with being uncomfortable.' The team requires collaboration skills beyond OpenAI employees, extending to governments and universities. Chatterji noted that AI's economic effects create complexity requiring cooperation across organizations. Team members are expected to independently identify crucial problems rather than following predetermined research agendas, with Chatterji describing the pace of AI innovation at OpenAI as 'a little insane' and noting that research can become outdated quickly as technology develops.
According to Business Insider, Chatterji leads a team of approximately dozen people including economists, data scientists, business professionals, former teachers, and government workers. The team focuses on three key areas: current AI impact on jobs, business adoption and organizational restructuring, and potential economic implications of increasingly advanced AI systems. Chatterji indicated plans to expand the team further, with the group's research organized around how AI is affecting work currently, how companies are adopting the technology and changing their organizations, and what increasingly capable AI systems could mean for the economy in the future.
As reported by Business Insider, Chatterji highlighted that the job description is evolving rapidly due to AI's fast pace of development. He cited recursive self-improvement as an example of topics that became important quickly as technology advances. The team must be prepared for research agendas to shift rapidly and identify which questions are worth investigating for maximum impact. Chatterji emphasized that candidates need to consider which questions are worth investigating and who could benefit from the resulting work, reflecting the importance of rigorous economic thinking combined with an ability to adapt as the subject changes.
According to Business Insider, Chatterji joined OpenAI in 2024 after working in policymaking and academia. His previous roles included coordinating the former US President Joe Biden administration's $52 billion CHIPS programme and serving as acting deputy director of the National Economic Council. He also held positions as chief economist at the US Commerce Department and professor of business and public policy at Duke University. His own career reflects the broad scope of OpenAI's work, with academic research focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, while responsibilities at OpenAI cover issues ranging from labour markets to how businesses adopt AI.
