AI predictions will become a hot topic in 2026
While markets remain excited by the prospect of a bumper crop of AI-powered profits, economists and labor market experts are beginning to worry that jobs will disappear as the technology becomes more powerful.
But here too, a growing number of contrarians believe that AI will not be the job killer that many fear.
Stephen Parker, co-head of global investment strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank, doesn’t think investors need to worry about AI’s dire impact on the economy.
“I think it’s a sign that companies are starting to realize that AI has the potential to improve the skills of workers, rather than aging them out, and that’s making the labor market more resilient than some people fear,” he told Business Insider in a recent interview.
Parker emphasized that while Wall Street may be very bullish on AI, that sentiment does not extend to Main Street. He cited a recent survey showing that only 30% of Americans currently view AI favorably.
While continued reports of companies laying off workers due to AI may be adding to the negative sentiment, he also noted that the situation is starting to change in some regions. He cited a graph from JPMorgan’s mid-year outlook report showing that software job openings are outpacing those in the broader labor market.
JP Morgan Chase
“This is one of the concerns that many of our clients have when considering the impact of AI on the labor market,” Parker said. “You’re seeing headlines saying that unemployment could skyrocket because of AI, but we’re not seeing that.”
JPMorgan’s data is consistent with other research showing that certain groups of workers are surging against the disruptive forces of AI. Job openings for forward-deployed engineers have jumped 700% in the past year.
The bank noted in its outlook that throughout history, technology-driven industrial shifts have created more jobs than they have eliminated. This is similar to the argument made by Thorsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, who recently argued that AI will reshape the labor market rather than shrink it.
The mid-year outlook did not discount the fact that AI is destroying jobs, and the impact is likely to continue for years to come. But it also highlights the fact that, overall, evidence that it actually hurts jobs remains minimal.
“Market pricing for both human labor and GPUs, as well as empirical evidence from the labor market, suggests that agent-based AI models still cannot outperform knowledge workers,” the bank’s report said.