Workers are rewriting their LinkedIn histories, and 2022 now looks 30% more AI-skilled than it was

A working paper analysing 29.4 million US LinkedIn profiles found nearly a fifth had retroactively edited a job they had already left, with AI-related additions rising more than sixfold since ChatGPT launched. The authors estimate a 2026 snapshot overstates 2022 AI skills by about 30%.

The record of who did what at work is quietly being rewritten. A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper tracking 29.4 million US LinkedIn profiles found that nearly a fifth had retroactively changed the title or description of a job the person had already left.

What gets added has a clear direction. Retroactive additions of terms including “AI“, “GPT“, “LLM” and “artificial intelligence” to previous roles have risen more than sixfold since ChatGPT was released in late 2022.

Things are also disappearing. By the end of 2025 workers were adding remote-work language about as often as they were deleting it, and additions of diversity and inclusion terms fell sharply in early 2025.

The authors call the practice time travel. The median edit landed more than four years after the job in question had ended.