Threat to jobs: Almost 200 experts demand an immediate response to the impact of AI

Nearly 200 economists, researchers and IT industry leaders have come together to officially call on politicians to pay attention to the serious economic risks associated with the introduction of artificial intelligence. The manifesto, titled “We Must Act Now,” indicates that technology could become radically more powerful in the next 10 years, bringing both huge gains to living standards and major disruptions to the labor market.

Nobel laureates warned about the risks of mass automation

The authors of the statement warn: the consequences of the introduction of AI may be more extensive than the effect of the industrial revolution, but the changes will happen much faster. The list of signatories includes 15 Nobel laureates, managers and leading experts of such giants as OpenAI and Anthropic, ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt, and well-known investor Vinod Khosla.

Interestingly, even former skeptics such as 2024 Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson of MIT have supported the initiative. Professor Acemoglu emphasized that the risk of displacement of “white-collar workers” has become extremely realistic. If office workers face the same level of automation as industrial workers once did, but in a shorter time frame, this could have a catastrophic effect on the welfare of the population.

Reasons of panic

Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson notes a clear change in sentiment in the professional environment. The main problem is the gap between the pace of technological development and the unpreparedness of government mechanisms. The current systems of social protection and unemployment insurance are completely unprepared for the future “tsunami” in the employment market.

Recommendations of experts

Despite forecasts for future productivity growth, the main concern is related to short-term shocks. The main call of the manifesto is for immediate action to explore the transformative economy of AI. There are no specific policy recommendations in the document yet, but the authors call for work to be started on the following points:

• Creating reliable methods for measuring the impact of AI on employment.
• Adaptation of technologies so that they complement a person, and not completely replace him.
• Reforming the social support system taking into account changes in the demand for personnel.

Right now, economists are sorely lacking in quality data to understand exactly which categories of employees will be most affected and how quickly it will happen.