OpenAI board member and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers predicts that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually replace nearly all forms of human labor — contributing to the most significant economic shift since the Industrial Revolution.
According to a report published by the Gwinnett Daily Post, Summers recently spoke at Fortune’s Innovation Forum in Hong Kong, where he said that while the full potential of AI won’t be realized for a couple of years, it offers the prospect of substituting not just some forms of human labor, but nearly all of them.
Fortune also reports that Summers drew comparisons between the rise of AI and the advancement of autonomous vehicles — noting that despite significant technological advancements and the effort from thousands of workers in self-driving technology, truck driving jobs have not been eliminated.
Summers’ remarks echo similar sentiments by noteworthy institutions including Goldman Sachs, which last year published a report estimating that AI could displace 300 million jobs globally. The projection includes a significant portion of jobs in the U.S. that could see some level of automation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also raised concerns that global jobs are vulnerable to AI — with even greater risks in advanced economies.
Summers, serving on the new OpenAI board, emphasizes the critical need to confront the ethical and social challenges that AI poses to the workforce. While the exact timeline of AI’s dramatic impact on employment is still unclear, the rate at which the technology is being developed suggests that leaders in both business and politics should engage in proactive dialogue to prepare, and protect, the global economy for its societal impacts.
