Ireland is “relatively more exposed” to artificial intelligence (AI) than many of the world’s advanced economies, the IMF is warning. It says the State is vulnerable to “novel” economic risks that the technology poses to employment and also to financial markets.In a preliminary report on the findings of its latest mission to Ireland publishe don Monday, the Washington, DC-based fund says that AI can be associated with “productivity gains”. However, it says that realising those gains requires continuous reskilling and upskilling of the labour force. Facebook parent, Meta, is cutting 20 per cent of its Irish workforce – 350 jobs – as the group looks to make savings to fund its investment in AI.Separately, software group Oracle has told the Irish Government that it plans to axe some 150 Irish jobs, about 15 per cent of its workforce in the Republic, as it group deals with a cash crunch related to spending on AI.Without policies that help workers adapt and “acquire new skills”, the IMF says that some people can be left behind, undermining “inclusive” economic growth. Against this backdrop, the Coalition should also look at policies, including “affordable housing”, that make it easier for workers to move between jobs and geographic areas for employment, it says.Separately, the agency said the Coalition will need to look at temporary budget measures to support households in the aftermath of the inflation shock caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. However, the IMF says measures should be “temporary” and “targeted” at the vulnerable, rather than broad-based ones like “tax cuts, subsidies and price controls”. Minister for Finance, Simon Harris said last week that he considers “cutting people’s income tax and allowing people to keep more of their own money” as “an important thing to do when people are under cost-of-living pressures”.More to follow...