Artificial Intelligence (AI) is causing economists to rethink their understanding of automation’s impact on the job market. For decades, economists maintained an optimistic outlook, asserting that technology, despite causing some upheaval, would not lead to mass unemployment. They argued that new technologies make the economy more productive and allow people to enter new fields, much like the shift from agriculture to manufacturing.
However, as income inequality rose globally, economists began revising their theories. Newer models of technology’s effects on the labor market account for the fact that it can indeed displace workers and lower wages. In the long run, technology does tend to raise living standards, but the timeline and breadth of this improvement depend on two factors: whether technologies create new jobs and whether workers have a voice in technology’s deployment.
The introduction of AI has raised new fears about a jobless future. Most economists argue that if technology permanently puts people out of work, then why, after centuries of new technologies, are there still so many jobs left? This question has led to a shift in economists’ views on technological change, from being “somewhere between benign and benevolent” to a more cautious stance.
The impact of AI on the job market is a complex issue that requires further exploration and understanding. It’s clear that AI and automation will continue to shape our economies and societies in ways we are only beginning to understand.
Read more: hbr.org