JP Morgan CEO Warns Rapid AI Adoption Raises Social Risks
Jamie Dimon, the JP Morgan CEO, has stated that AI can become too fast to the point that it could lead to civil upheaval unless governments and businesses help laid-off employees.
Although AI will be of tremendous benefit, both in the form of increased productivity and in the level of curing diseases, the technology still may not come in as quickly as it needs to so as to save society, he said.
Dimon remarked companies and governments could not pretend to not use AI or bury their heads in the sand. He informed an audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos that the Wall Street lender was likely to have fewer employees in five years’ time as it implemented AI.
Your competitors will use it, and countries will use it, he said. But potentially it can be too fast for society, and when it gets too fast for society, it is at that point that governments and enterprises (must) act in a coordinated effort and come up with a solution to retrain the people and transition them over time.
Dimon told the governments that they might have to resort to the assistance programmes which helped the wages and provided retraining, relocation and early retirement.
He cited an example of an area that might require assistance: the 2 million commercial lorry drivers in the US, with driverless trucks hitting the road.
Would you do it once and have 2 million people leave driving a truck and earning $150,000 a year for a next job, which could be earning 25,000? No. You will have civil unrest. So phase it in,” Dimon said.
Painting of the world, I say that we must do that to save society… The society will have greater production; we are going to eliminate so many cancers. You will not bring it down. What would you do in case it does something horrible?
Speaking before the speech of Donald Trump, Dimon gave a milder commentary on the ever-warlike attitude of the US president towards Europe and NATO and his insistence on acquiring Greenland.
Dimon said, “I believe that is all fine, as long as the aim is to render them stronger instead of putting Europe together in pieces. I would be employing our moral suasion, our economic suasion, our intelligence and military in urging Europe to do the things that are right for Europe. It must be done by the leadership of Europe and not by America.
Dimon has expressed his anxiety over Trump’s immigration crackdown, and he claimed internal outrage on the matter was tamed down.
Dimon stated that he did not like what he saw in having five adult men assaulting little women, referring to the scenes of violence involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. Rounding up criminals is one thing, Dimon added, but he would like to see statistics as to who had been rounded up and whether they had violated the law.
Dimon remarked that a lot of migrants were significant in the US economy, including in healthcare, hospitality and agriculture. “We all know them. They are pleasant and they ought to be so treated, he said.
