Economists urge action on AI job risks

Hundreds of economists, computer scientists and tech executives have signed an open letter urging institutions to act quickly on the economic disruption that AI could bring. The statement was organized by Stanford University’s digital economy lab and includes signatories from companies such as Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

The letter warns that AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years and could drive an economic transformation larger than the Industrial Revolution, but on a much shorter timeline. It points to risks including large-scale job displacement, alongside possible gains in living standards.

The Stanford lab says the letter has so far been signed by more than 200 economists and AI researchers, including 16 winners of a Nobel Prize. AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio said it is highly plausible that AI will drastically transform economies and urged collective, democratic choices rather than leaving outcomes to market forces.