Generative artificial-intelligence technology is already eroding entry-level job opportunities, according to new research from Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab. The 57-page paper—titled “Canaries in the Coal Mine? Six Facts about the Recent Employment Effects of Artificial Intelligence”—provides some of the clearest statistical evidence to date that AI adoption is reshaping the US labour market. By analysing high-frequency payroll data from ADP covering millions of workers between late 2022 and mid-2025, economists Erik Brynjolfsson, Bharat Chandar and Ruyu Chen found a 13 percent relative decline in employment among workers aged 22 to 25 in occupations most exposed to generative AI. The losses are concentrated in roles where AI is likely to automate tasks outright, such as software development and customer service, while employment for older colleagues in the same jobs remained steady or even grew. Wages have not fallen materially, suggesting companies are curbing hiring rather than cutting pay. The authors say the pattern marks an early stage of AI-driven labour displacement, reversing years of stable or improving prospects for recent graduates in knowledge-intensive fields. They add that positions which use AI to augment rather than replace human work show little evidence of job loss, underscoring the importance of steering technology and policy toward collaborative, rather than purely automating, applications.