Artificial Intelligence, Labor Market Polarization and Income Inequality：Evidence from China

this research builds a two-way fixed-effects and spatial econometric model using provincial panel data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2003 and 2022. The findings are as follows: (1) Artificial intelligence exacerbates income inequality by expanding the wage gap and employment demand between low-skill industries and high-skill industries relative to middle-skill industries, thereby further intensifying income inequality. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that artificial intelligence significantly exacerbates income inequality in the central and western regions, while significantly alleviating income inequality in the western region. (3) The phenomenon of artificial intelligence exacerbating income inequality through "labor market polarization" exists in a positive spatial spillover effect.