JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has issued warnings over the expected effects of the adoption of artificial intelligence on the job market. Speaking on FOX News, Dimon offered a blunt assessment of what is coming as artificial intelligence continues to spread across the United States.
While Dimon notes the negative effect, his message to American workers is that they should not panic. He highlighted that survival in the AI age will hinge less on technical wizardry and more on the great human skills that machines cannot replicate.
AI will eliminate jobs, Dimon said. That doesn’t mean that people won’t have other jobs. He advised the populace to learn skills that could be in demand even in the face of artificial intelligence adoption.
Jamie Dimon warns the populace over job losses tied to AI
Jamie Dimon’s warnings come as artificial intelligence moves from being just a science project to a hard reality for millions of workers.
Across the United States, executives are currently at loggerheads over its effect, especially on the job changes of younger and white-collar employees. Some labor experts already see AI as the main factor in the rising unemployment rate among young workers. However, Dimon has pushed back on the claims, noting that the current labor market is softer.
The JPMorgan Chase CEO claimed that today’s market has more to do with caution than code. Jobs have gotten a little weaker, wages have gotten a little weaker, Dimon said to host Maria Bartiromo.
“You talk to businesses, they’re going to be a little more cautious hiring. That’s not because of AI. That’s just because they want to do more with less.”
While he admitted that AI could displace workers, Dimon rejected the forecast of a sudden collapse in employment because of the technology.
“Look, I don’t think AI is going to dramatically reduce jobs,” he said, describing the technology as a long-term force for progress. “For the most part, AI’s going to do great things for mankind like tractors, fertilizers, vaccines did.”
Dimon noted that the benefits might eventually transform everyday life, predicting that in the future, people would need to work less while living a better life. “Maybe one day we’ll be working less hard but having wonderful lives,” he said. “It’ll cure a lot of cancers.”
AI is predicted to open up better job opportunities
Jamie Dimon also warned that the gains of AI would only come if the technology is properly governed.
“Now, of course it needs to be properly regulated,” he said. “There are downsides just like there are to airplanes, pharmaceuticals, cars. All things get used by bad people.”
However, he noted that even with the guidance, job losses associated with the technology are still inevitable. He highlighted that it will eliminate some jobs, but would be able to provide people with other jobs.
In addition, Dimon talked about the pace of change rather than the technology itself. He said that is exactly where the risk lies.
“If it does happen too fast for society, which is possible, you know, we can’t assimilate all these people that quickly,” he said, comparing the transition to past economic upheavals caused by farming automation, electricity, and the internet.
He noted that governments and firms need to learn from past mistakes and learn to transition carefully and deliberately.
He also argued that investment in artificial intelligence could increase employment in the future.
“You have a huge amount of construction that needs to take place,” he said. “You need roads and trucks and drivers. You need servers, you need fire — all of that. So it’s going to cause probably more jobs in the short run in total,” Dimon added.
Dimon’s statement comes after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei mentioned in May that AI could erase up to half of all white collar jobs over the next five years.
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