Experts urge early action on AI disruption

Hundreds of economists and AI researchers have signed an open letter urging policymakers and technology leaders to act now to prepare for the economic consequences of AI. The initiative, organised by Stanford University’s digital economy lab, includes signatures from more than 200 experts, including 16 Nobel laureates.

The warning says AI could become far more capable over the coming decade, creating a transformation “larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame”. It points to risks such as large-scale job displacement, alongside opportunities including major gains in living standards.

The signatories call for governments and industry to build “incentives, guardrails, and institutions” so AI complements human work and benefits society. Anton Korinek, a University of Virginia professor who organised the initiative, said institutions cannot be improvised once the transformation is already under way.

Concerns are rising as employers begin linking workforce cuts to automation. Amazon announced in October that it was cutting about 14,000 jobs after its chief executive said generative AI and agents would take over some roles, while the United Nations warned in December that AI could widen inequality between richer and poorer countries.