When U.S. President Donald Trump wasn’t stealing the show, the hottest topic of this year’s Davos summit was artificial intelligence. But while tech executives dutifully maintained the hype around their creations, more grounded calls were also impossible to ignore this year. From focusing on the practical realities of business returns to caution over AI’s possibly understated effect on jobs, some leaders came to Davos with sobering takes.
One of these was Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund. In a panel conversation on Friday, Georgieva said that AI is already disrupting labor markets worldwide by shifting demand for skills employers seek, and might even boost earnings for some workers by improving productivity. But for others, especially younger people, the upshot is fewer entry-level tasks and a shrinking pool of jobs. For people new to the workforce, Georgieva said, AI is “like a tsunami hitting the labor market.”
