Nobel Prize-winning economist has poured cold water on the idea that artificial intelligence will haul Western economies back into an era of rapid productivity growth, warning that the fast-growth years may already be gone for good.
Christopher Pissarides, who shared the 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics and teaches at the London School of Economics, told Bloomberg News there was little sign of any productivity boost from AI so far.
His scepticism cuts against much of the tech industry and the policy world, where the technology’s promised productivity payoff is talked up in everything from central-bank gatherings to boardroom forecasts.
Pissarides, who specialises in the impact of automation on work, reckons as many as four in 10 jobs across the US and UK will be largely untouched by AI. He singled out sectors such as nursing and hospitality, where he argued the technology would deliver few of the gains its champions predict.
“There is up to 40%, or at least a big number of jobs in the UK, which are not exposed to AI so they are not going to get productivity gains because of AI,” he said.
