AI could rebuild the middle class or be used to kill

• The rise of AI ties in with concerns about how technology will affect the workforce.
• Labor economist David Autor told NPR he believes AI can revitalize the middle class.
• Autor said he was more concerned about the potential for AI to spread misinformation or create weapons.

As AI and chatbots like ChatGPT gain momentum, so does public concern about what new technologies mean for the future of the workforce.

While some reports have criticized these new AI models as potentially replacing workers, labor economist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor David Autor has a more positive outlook. ing. He recently told NPR’s Planet Money that he believes AI can revitalize the middle class.

Part of the reason, he said, is that the current AI wave is different from previous tech booms. Autor said the personal computer era has hitherto hit low-skilled, uncollege-educated workers. But this new wave of AI is likely to do the opposite, with the technology likely to hit white-collar and college-educated workers hardest.

AI can actually help less-skilled employees excel in their roles. For example, a recent study found productivity gains for low-skilled customer service representatives combined with AI chatbots. In contrast, productivity gains for more highly skilled workers are “close to 0%,” the study authors said. As an anecdote, one CEO who purchased ChatGPT Plus for his employees said it made them more productive.

“A good scenario is one in which AI makes elite expertise cheaper and more accessible,” Autor told NPR. “Suddenly, these workers can summarize literature, write decent documents, organize schedules, conduct medical analyses, design products, map routes, and even fly planes. It will be like this.”

Autor declined to provide additional comment to the insider.

Despite the predictions, Autor said humans still outperform AI in many ways, noting that humans are better at engaging with others and being creative.

“First of all, we live in a physical world, and most machines don’t,” Autor told NPR. “There are many things that we can do with our hands, bodies and faces that machines cannot do at this time.”

worst case scenario

Concerns about AI impacting the workforce may be top of mind for many workers, but Autor told NPR’s Planet Money that AI could be used by the bad guys and spread misinformation. , said he was primarily concerned with how it might affect weapons production and security. threat.

“In my mind, ironically, I actually think the labor market is the least scary part at the moment,” Autor told NPR. “I’m actually far more scared of what AI will do to everything else.”

Autor also said that in a worst-case scenario, “we’ll use AI to kill each other,” echoing similar warnings from other researchers.