Nobel laureate: AI cannot replicate the era of high-speed economic growth

Odaily Planet Daily News, July 7th – Christopher Pissarides, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, has warned that artificial intelligence will not return Western economies to an era of high productivity growth—an era that may be gone for good. Pissarides stated that up to 40% of jobs in the United States and the United Kingdom are essentially unaffected by AI, citing sectors such as nursing and hospitality. Technology companies and governments are pinning their hopes on AI to revive growth levels that have slowed considerably in recent decades. The weak performance of Western economies, especially in Europe, makes policy trade-offs more difficult. However, Pissarides said there is currently little evidence that AI can boost productivity, questioning claims by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI founder Sam Altman that the technology will have a profound impact on employment. While the technology may bring some productivity gains, “I have doubts about whether we will see a computer boom reminiscent of the 1980s and 1990s,” Pissarides said.