The great challenge for local labour markets. Lovely and lousy jobs in the digital era

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital platforms represent the great challenge for advanced economies in modern times, especially because of their transformative effects on labour markets through the creation and/or displacement of jobs. Going beyond a mere indicator of labour market exposure to digital technologies, the paper aims at identifying those occupations that are actually associated positively (lovely) or negatively (lousy) with the use of AI and platforms. Focusing on Italian NUTS3 regions in the period 2016-2024, the paper classifies labour market transformations based on the mix of lovely and lousy jobs in each region. While presenting an overall picture of deep evolution in labour markets, one of the most important results of this work is that it mitigates concerns about widespread disruptive effects, with several regions being able to contain job losses despite the high diffusion of AI and platforms.