More than 200 technology experts and economists have signed a statement warning of the sudden transformation that AI may cause in the economy.
Erik Brynjolfsson, a Stanford economist who helped organize the statement, which was released on Monday by We Must Act Now, said the purpose is to get economists and policymakers to take the disruptive potential of AI more seriously.
"There's been a notable change in the profession," Brynjolfsson said, adding that, however, "I still see a big gap there, a big mismatch, and I'm kind of worried that we're not going to be ready for the tsunami that's coming".
Along with many other economists, Brynjolfsson believes that in the long run AI will be beneficial to society and help raise living standards, as happened with the Industrial Revolution and computing. But they are also concerned that the speed of change will be much faster than before, possibly leading to more abrupt and severe dislocations in the economy.
We Must Act Now's statement on AI's transformation of the economy made three points:
