Nearly 200 artificial intelligence researchers and more than a dozen Nobel laureates in economics released a short letter Monday warning that AI could cause unprecedented economic upheaval for which the world is unprepared.
“Economists, policymakers and technology leaders must act now to understand the economics of transformative AI and to build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society,” they wrote in an 88-word letter.
Notable signatories include Nobel economics laureates Paul Krugman and Daron Acemoglu, as well as Jack Clark and Ronnie Chatterji, the head economists of Anthropic and OpenAI, respectively. Also signed are tech investor Vinod Khosla and former Biden administration commerce secretary Gina Raimondo, who recently launched an effort backed by major tech companies focused on AI-proofing the workforce.
The view espoused in the letter reflects a common belief in Silicon Valley that AI will bifurcate the economy into a small group of technological leaders and a “permanent underclass” for everyone else as jobs are automated away. But many economists have been far more skeptical of this scenario: While various studies point to some risk for white-collar and entry-level jobs, it has historically been very difficult to predict the effects of new technology on the labor market.
The letter, titled “We Must Act Now,” warns about AI risks but stops short of a definite forecast.
“This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame,” it says. “It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.”
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