The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that nearly 40% of jobs globally will be influenced by artificial intelligence, with advanced economies expected to experience a higher impact compared to emerging markets and low-income nations.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva expressed concern in a Bloomberg report stating that, in most cases, AI is likely to exacerbate overall inequality.
- “In most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality, a troubling trend that policymakers must proactively address to prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions,” Georgieva said in a blog post on the study.
AI’s income inequality effect will largely depend on how much the technology complements high earners.
More productivity from high-income workers and companies would boost capital returns, widening the wealth gap, Georgieva said. Countries should provide “comprehensive social safety nets” and retraining programs for vulnerable workers, she said.
Advanced economies may have about 60% of jobs affected
She noted that while there’s potential for AI to fully replace some jobs, the more likely scenario is that it’ll complement human work, according to the analysis.
Georgieva said advanced economies may have about 60% of jobs affected, more than emerging and low-income countries.
Georgieva’s take on artificial intelligence coincides with the meeting of global business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where AI is a topic of discussion.
Companies have been throwing cash at emerging technology, sometimes sparking concern among employees about the future of their roles. One example is Buzzfeed Inc., which announced plans to use AI to help with content creation and closed its core news department, laying off more than 100 staffers.
The European Union reached a tentative deal in December on legislation setting out safeguards on AI, while the US is still weighing its federal regulatory stance.
What you should know
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has said that global leaders need a coordinated response to address the challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Pablo Hernández de Cos, the chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and governor of the Bank of Spain cautioned that the rapid evolution of this technology can alter the course of history, and not necessarily in a positive way.
According to a Financial Times report, in anticipation of the upcoming summit in Davos, De Cos urged leaders to consider financial regulation as a model for addressing issues like AI and climate change.
The remarkable cooperation on financial regulation that allowed watchdogs to keep the world’s financial system stable through a pandemic and two wars should be applied to AI, the Spanish official told the Financial Times.
De Cos said there had been a clear increase in economic problems in the past decade and that international institutions needed to cooperate to find solutions.
- “However, what we are observing at the geopolitical level shows that reaching common agreements is becoming more and more difficult,” he said in an interview at his Madrid office, five months before the end of his non-renewable six-year term. “That is a concern for me and is a concern for many people.”
De Cos said the Basel Committee would publish a report on the financial stability implications of AI in the coming months.
