AI to impact 40% of jobs and widen inequality, warns IMF

Artificial intelligence (AI) will affect 40 per cent of jobs globally with many at risk of disappearing, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Millions of roles will be impacted by the rise of AI, which will ‘likely worsen overall inequality’.

IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva urged governments to act to ‘prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions’. The warning came as politicians and business leaders gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where the rapid growth of AI is high on the agenda.

So-called generative AI which can produce human-like content from poems to software code has had a major breakthrough over the past year with the release of the ChatGPT app.

Analysis by the IMF found 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies such as the UK and US are exposed to AI. Around half will benefit from the technology, which could boost productivity. But for the other 50 per cent, robots will be able to do tasks done by humans, resulting in fewer jobs and lower wages.

Georgieva said: ‘We are on the brink of a technological revolution that could jump start productivity, boost global growth and raise incomes around the world. Yet it could also replace jobs and deepen inequality.’

In emerging markets and low income countries, AI will affect 40 per cent and 26 per cent of jobs respectively. Poorer countries ‘face fewer immediate disruptions from AI’ but are also less equipped to make the most of the benefits.