Consequences for jobs and salaries
IMF: AI threatens to worsen inequality
January 15, 2024, 8:03 a.m
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There is consensus among economists that artificial intelligence is changing the labor market. However, it is unclear how much. Now the International Monetary Fund is making a forecast. In some sectors, however, this is not particularly positive for workers.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), software based on artificial intelligence will have far-reaching consequences for jobs and salaries. In developed economies, AI could influence around 60 percent of jobs, according to one recently published IMF study out.
In around half of these, the use of artificial intelligence is likely to have a positive effect with higher productivity, it said. In the other half, AI could take over tasks that are currently carried out by humans. This could lead to fewer available jobs and lower salaries in these areas.
The IMF also warned of more inequality: In the same fields, workers who do well with AI could hope for higher salaries – while others fall behind. The IMF sees better opportunities for employees with higher education to end up in jobs where artificial intelligence has a positive influence. In low-income countries, the Monetary Fund sees around 26 percent of jobs potentially severely affected by artificial intelligence – and in emerging countries it is around 40 percent.
At the same time, the IMF restricted that these were only forecasts based on calculation models and that some factors were difficult to predict – such as the possible emergence of new industries and how quickly AI would spread.