'AI job disruption could lead to 20% unemployment in 5 years'

 AI startup Anthropic is sounding the alarm on AI’s potential to reshape the workforce — and not in a good way, CNN reported May 29.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, told CNN in an interview that AI is on track to disrupt the white-collar labor force at an unprecedented pace. He warned that U.S. unemployment could rise to 20% within one to five years.

Entry-level, white-collar roles could be hit hardest, with up to half potentially eliminated as AI grows more capable, Mr. Amodei told Axios.

“AI is starting to get better than humans at almost all intellectual tasks,” he told CNN. “We’re going to collectively, as a society, grapple with it.”

Anthropic — founded by former OpenAI researchers — recently launched a new AI model that it claims can operate with limited human oversight for nearly seven hours. Mr. Amodei said the company monitors how its tools are used and noted a shift: about 40% of users now apply AI for full automation rather than job augmentation — a figure that continues to climb.

While proponents often emphasize AI’s productivity benefits, Mr. Amodei’s comments reflect rising unease among industry leaders about broader economic consequences. If his predictions come to pass, the job losses could rival or exceed the employment shock seen during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other observers are raising similar concerns. A 2024 survey from the World Economic Forum found that 41% of employers globally expect to reduce their workforce by 2030 due to AI automation.

To help offset potential fallout, Mr. Amodei has proposed policy interventions, including taxing AI companies to redistribute the wealth generated by the technology.

“It’s definitely not in my economic interest to say that,” he told CNN, “but I think this is something we should consider.”

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/ai/ai-job-disruption-could-hit-20-unemployment-in-5-years/