In Britain, 8 million people may lose their jobs due to AI – Kommersant

The British Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published report about the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) for the local labor market. The IPPR described three possible scenarios—best case, base case and worst case scenario—each examining three levels of risk. In the worst-case scenario, the mass adoption of AI will lead to the loss of 8 million jobs, and the country’s GDP will not increase. Administrative positions and some management positions are most at risk of being cut. Demographically, AI poses the greatest threat to jobs currently held by women—mostly administrative positions—and to young people, especially in entry-level jobs where humans could be replaced by AI. In the base scenario, GDP will grow by 6.3%, but the number of jobs will decrease by 4.4 million. In the best scenario, GDP will grow by 13%, and the number of jobs will not decrease due to retraining and retraining of workers.

In this regard, IPPR recommends that the British government begin developing a full-scale plan to adapt the labor market to the development of AI in order to minimize the risks of job losses. Among the main directions of such activities, IPPR sees the support and development of jobs in green industries, which are less susceptible to layoffs due to AI and automation; measures of fiscal support for business, thanks to which companies will be able to begin retraining employees in a timely manner; changes in the regulatory regime that would limit the introduction of AI at the expense of people in vital industries such as healthcare, etc.

Evgeny Khvostik