Recent advancements in artificial intelligence offer substantial benefits, but there are risks associated with this rapidly evolving technology. The IMF is investigating AI's broader impact on economies and societies by gathering global knowledge through surveillance activities, and by convening key actors to share successful policy responses, foster international consensus and harmonize regulations.
Policy choices will determine whether workers and firms are adequately prepared for the AI revolution
The power-hungry technology requires policies to help expand electricity supplies, incentivize alternative sources, and help contain price surges
Some countries risk missing out on the full economic benefits of AI, but more formal jobs and expanded digital access can help
Simulations that incorporate machine learning-based predictions of conflict suggest large payoffs from preventive policies, including efforts to promote macroeconomic stability and growth
Smart policies that help people realize their potential can be game-changing for entire societies
New generative AI tools can redefine the relationship between governments and citizens, but strong leadership and safeguards are fundamental.
While artificial intelligence continues to outperform our human abilities in many areas, Pablo Pena believes critical thinking and curiosity are what will keep us in the driver's seat. Pena is an associate professor of economics at the University of Chicago and author of Human Capital for Humans: An Accessible Introduction to the Economic Science of People. In this Podcast, Pena and journalist Rhoda Metcalfe discuss his article in the December issue of Finance & Development magazine.
As tech innovation, particularly in the field of AI, is increasingly focused on a few key players, the industries benefiting from these tools have also become more concentrated. In this podcast, Carl Benedikt Frey says that concentration of AI-using industries will push the direction of technological change further towards automation rather than product innovation.
Stories can unify or divide but our ability to imagine them is uniquely human. Cooperation and trust, built through shared stories and narratives, are the foundation of human societies and economies. So what happens when humans no longer hold the pen? Yuval Noah Harari is a historian, philosopher, and author. In this podcast, Harari says artificial intelligence is a risk to humankind’s most valuable resource, trust.
Only a small number of companies in an even smaller number of countries hold the keys to AI’s development. So what happens when a narrow swath of humanity makes choices that will impact everyone else? Stephanie Bell is a Senior Research Scientist at the Partnership for AI. In this podcast, Bell says guidelines are needed to ensure AI’s development trajectory serves humanity.
The pace at which artificial intelligence is transforming jobs is astounding, but while it boasts higher productivity AI is also increasing wage inequality. When workers are replaced by machines, real wages decline, and the owners of capital prosper. So who owns AI and how should its benefits be distributed? The IMFs Andrew Berg and Maryam Vaziri discuss AI’s inequality problem.
There’s no question that Artificial Intelligence will increase productivity- but at what cost? What happens when systems out-perform not only factory workers but society’s most esteemed professions? Daniel Susskind is a research professor at King's College London and a senior research associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University. In this podcast, he speaks with journalist Rhoda Metcalfe about how encouraging technologies that complement rather than substitute human work would place fewer livelihoods at risk.
