Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist and professor at Columbia University, emphasized the negative impact of artificial intelligence (AI), stating that it will cause significant changes in income distribution and eliminate jobs.
Professor Jeffrey Sachs speaking at the Future Investment Initiative held in Saudi Arabia / Photo by Yonhap News
On the 30th (local time), Professor Sachs participated as a discussant at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) event held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, saying, "The idea that AI only has benefits is not correct," and "There will be many losers and many winners."
He stated, "So far, technology has increased productivity while drastically changing income distribution and eliminating a tremendous number of jobs," adding, "AI will dramatically accelerate this."
Regarding Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who remotely attended the FII the day before and shared his outlook on AI, Sachs said, "If he is right, by the time the third and fourth generations of Optimus (the humanoid robot Tesla is developing) come out, wage levels will be very low."
He continued, "Musk, a brilliant inventor and innovator, says abundance awaits us, but what about the people who will lose their jobs?" and questioned, "Musk's (asset) value is about $28 billion, roughly $30 billion today, but isn't the value of the rest of us very small?"
He also said that the education system must change to prepare for the AI era. Professor Sachs stated, "Education will be essential in the future, especially not education aimed at specific skills but education focused on flexibility and the quality of human life," explaining, "Optimus can perform tasks that take years to train a human in about three hours."
He added, "School and university curricula have not changed as much as technology has," emphasizing, "Since many jobs will change in the future, training for a more flexible life is necessary."
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