Nearly 200 economists and technology leaders in the United States jointly warned that AI may cause massive unemployment, and policy responses must be urgent
Recently, nearly 200 economists, artificial intelligence researchers and people in the technology industry jointly signed an open letter calling on governments to prepare as soon as possible for the economic impact that AI may bring. The open letter pointed out that the capabilities of AI may achieve leapfrog improvements in the next ten years and drive an economic change that may exceed the scale of the industrial revolution but be much faster. This may not only bring the risk of large-scale job losses, but also create opportunities to significantly improve living standards. The signatories called on economists, policymakers and technology leaders to take immediate action to conduct in-depth research on the economic impact of AI and establish corresponding incentive mechanisms, regulatory frameworks and institutional systems to guide AI to complement humans rather than simply replace human labor. Signatories of the statement include several Nobel laureates in economics, as well as Former CEO and chief economist of several AI companies, etc. The list includes both scholars who have long been optimistic about the potential of AI, as well as researchers who are skeptical about AI, reflecting that concerns about the impact of AI are becoming a broader consensus in the economics community.