Due to AI... "Risk of 300 Million Jobs Disappearing"

Goldman Sachs Report
One-Quarter of Jobs in US and Eurozone Automated
7% Annual Global GDP Growth Over 10 Years

With the development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as 'ChatGPT,' there is a forecast that 300 million jobs in major economic zones like the United States and Europe are at risk of disappearing. If large-scale investment in AI continues, the global gross domestic product (GDP) is predicted to grow at an average annual rate of 7% over the next decade.

On the 27th (local time), according to major foreign media, global investment bank (IB) Goldman Sachs released a report containing these findings.

The report viewed that with the recent advancement of generative AI, one-quarter of jobs in the U.S. and Eurozone will be automated. By industry, it projected that 46% of office and administrative support workers will be automated. Following were legal (44%), architecture and engineering (37%), life and social sciences (36%), and management and finance (35%). All are 'white-collar' office jobs, expected to follow the path of manufacturing workers who lost jobs due to automation in the 1980s.

On the other hand, industries involving outdoor work or physical labor such as construction and mining, installation and maintenance, and building cleaning are estimated to have single-digit automation rates.

By occupation, among thousands of jobs in the U.S. and Eurozone, two-thirds are expected to be exposed to automation risks due to AI. The amount of work that AI can replace is predicted to range from at least 25% to over half.

The report forecasted that along with job restructuring caused by the development of generative AI, the global GDP could grow at an average annual rate of 7% (about 7 trillion dollars per year) over the next decade. In particular, if investment in AI increases at the same pace as software (SW) investment in the 1990s, it is expected to approach 1% of the U.S. GDP by 2030.

The report observed that the more AI contributes to economic growth, the greater the risk of job losses will become, posing a dilemma that the world will face in the future.

Goldman Sachs stated, "If this technology meets expectations for (growth rate increase), it will cause significant disruption in the labor market," adding, "It will expose 300 million full-time workers in major economic zones to automation risks, with lawyers and administrative and office workers particularly at high risk of layoffs."